Thank heavens for Clarity!

Hi all,

Just popping in to add my card for this month's Clarity Challenge.

I hope you are all ready for the Big Man's visit at the weekend??

I have decided that what I don't have now I will just go without!

All shopping done, presents wrapped, washing and ironing (well nearly) all done.

Last food shop to be delivered was Tuesday and that's that!

Finito!!

So moving on.....

Here is the card I have made for this month's Clarity Challenge which is

Carol Singing and Christmas Joy

So I have gone with

THE HOLLY AND THE IVY

and as luck would have it I even have a stamp set to match.

So using the fabulous Jayne Nestorenko Holly and Ivy stamp set, here is the card I made:

I love the detail on these stamps don't you?

Coloured with my Spectrum Noir pencils for a change.

The Christmas Greetings comes from the Bespoke stamp set which you can order here.

I am really pleased with how this one turned out, I hope you like it too?

Well as the title of my post is Thank Heaves for Clarity, let me explain.

I had 35 Christmas cards to make and one day to make them in.

I received a beautiful card from the lovely Maria Simms and with it came the inspiration for my Christmas Cards.

All done with Clarity Stamps and Stencil and Tim Holtz Distress Inks.

Here is a picture of all of them.

I have to be honest, they went down a storm. Everybody was really impressed.

Not as impressed as me though - 35 in one day.

Thank you Clarity - you kept me sane this year.

Roll on 2017.

Happy Christmas and a Happy New Year to each and every one of you.

See you on the flip side.

xxxxxxxxx

A bit of Crimson Holly

Ok, so the holly isn't Crimson - however it is the name of this fabulous image which you can find in the Etsy shop of Ching-Chou Kuik.

I just love these images, they are a joy to colour.

You can find the image here.

So without further ado, here is my version.

I am so pleased with how this has turned out.

Who would have ever thought that my colouring could improve so much by just taking some online colouring classes.

If you have ever thought about improving your colouring skills then why not stop by the website at Kit and Clowder.  Trust me, the lovely Alyce Keegan who runs these classes is just the nicest person ever and gives one to one feedback for class work.  There is also a Facebook group too, lots of inspiration, fun and laughs, no dramas just like minded people helping each other out and having fun along the way.

Here are a few close ups for you.

The background is just coloured with two shades of blue polychromo pencil and a touch of purple.

There are 9 different colours on the skin and 4 on the hair.  I decided to add the white dots too.  Seen alot of these and haven't done it before but I quite like it now it's done. What do you think?

I do think the butterfly tends to dominate the picture a wee bit but hey ho I still love the effect.

Am really chuffed with the little robins too. 

I shall enter this into the current challenge at Ching-Chou Kuik which is Christmas along with a few others.

Allsorts Challenge - Anything Christmas

Brown Sugar Challenge - Anything Goes

Colour Crazy Craft Challenge - Anything goes

Crafting with Friends - Anything Goes

Crafting with an attitude - Anything Goes

Crafty Ribbons - Christmas with Ribbon or lace

Wicked Musing

Hi everyone.

Blimey, I have been neglecting my little ole blog a bit haven't I?

So sorry about that.

I thought I would pop in and show you my latest colouring.

I don't know how many of you have heard of Kit and Clowder?

They are online colouring classes run by the very lovely Alyce Keegan.

They also have a facebook page here.

I love colouring and I wanted to improve my technique so when I saw the FB group I joined and then joined up for some of the classes too.  Now Alyce runs monthly classes for Pencil colouring or Marker colouring (or if you're feeling flush, you could do both!!)

I do the pencils class every month - well I buy it every month but I am a bit slow in actually doing the classes.

However, when I saw this image from one of my favourite artists I just HAD to colour it up straight away.  I am so so pleased with how it turned out and I wanted to share it with you all.

So, the image I have used is Wicked Musing by Ching Chou Kuik and you can find it here.

Isn't she adorable?? Even if you don't like witches, I still think she is fabulous.

So here is the card I made with her.

I am just tickled pink with how she turned out. What do you all think?

I have used my Polychromo pencils to colour the image and I never, never thought I could make something look like this.

The bricks in my pre Kit and Clowder colouring would have just all been grey - would never have thought to add colour like this!

So, I am going to enter her into a few challenges because I am so thrilled with how she turned out.

Challenges:

Brown Sugar Challenges - Anything goes

Crafting with Friends - Anything Goes

Crafty Calendar Challenge - October - Halloween

Crafty Friends - Anything Goes

The Pencil Case - Anything Goes

Ching Chou Kuik - Halloween/something spooky

In the Garden!

Hello everyone.

My oh my where does all the time go to I wonder??

Pretty soon it will be Christmas and it doesn't seem like five minutes ago we were putting the tree away from last year does it?

Anyway, on to my latest project eh?

This is going to be my entry for the Clarity Monthly challenge and this month's is entitled,

"In the Garden"

Well, I have to tell you that my garden is full of birds.

Hubby loves to see the birds feeding and consequently we have many many feeders dotted around the garden.

There is a downside to this because under each feeder we have a small meadow growing!! Lol

The birds seem to take great delight in the "one for me, one for the floor" method of feeding. hahaha.

So I have based my In The Garden card on that theme and here it is:

You will see that I have used the large Blue Tit from the Garden birds and feeder set. I love this set of stamps and I really should use it more often.

To make the border I used the square stencil and then used the stencil with the tree at the side of it to make the inner square (obviously leaving the tree out!).

Then I masked it all off and stamped the Briar Rose stamp into the four corners. I didn't want the flower to overpower the bird and I think it worked, what do you think??

Whilst it was masked off I brushed Distress Ink around the border using Twisted Citron and Ripe Persimmon.

The bird is coloured using my Polychromo Pencils and I'm really pleased with how the colouring worked.  The background is done with Pan Pastels and I am really enjoying my new found love for these.  

Then because I couldn't leave it alone I thought I would add some rays of sunshine. Bad move, really not happy with them but hey ho, it's done now.  

Here's the thing, whilst I am adding them I can hear Barbara saying "you can add it but you can't take it away!!!"  How very true, maybe I should have listened eh??

So there you have it, my entry into this month's Clarity Challenge.

Hope you like it.

TTFN

xxx

Autumn - already??

Hello my lovelies.

Oh my gosh, I can't believe I haven't posted since 22 July!!! My bad!

So, how are you all?  Been enjoying the good old British Summer?

Mind you, it has been ok really don't you think?

I love the Summer for the sun and the warmth but I have to be honest and say that for the colours, I do love Autumn.

Anyhoo, best crack on.

Just thought I would show you my latest card.

This one features a new image from the lovely Ching Chou Kuik and it is called Autumn in Far North.  It was produced especially for a colouring event over at Kit and Clowder on Facebook.  Kit and Clowder, in case you don't know, is a fabulous community teaching fantastic colouring techniques.  There are numerous classes that you can purchase or even a monthly colouring class using pencils and one for markers.

Why not pop over and have a look at the website - it really is great fun.

(www.kitandclowder.ning.com)

 So as I had done this for the current colouring competition at Kit and Clowder, and also entered it into the Ching Chou Kuik challenge on Facebook, I thought I would blog it and see where else I could enter it.

Here is the card:

I have used my Copics to colour this one for a change. (I usually use my Polychromo Pencils)

I am really happy with how this one turned out and I feel like I'm getting braver with my colouring.

Not sure I have got the blending quite right yet cos I can still see the individual colours, but I'm getting there slowly.

See what I mean?  Mind you I am especially pleased with the woodland face in the background. I lost count of how many colours I used on that. lol

I finished it off with a line sentiment from Clarity which I stamped in Versamark and then embossed with black embossing powder - really stands out doesn't it?

So there you have it.

I shall enter it in the following challenges:

Colour Crazy Craft Challenge - Anything goes

Crafty Catz - Anything goes - optional twist Autumn colours

Really Reasonable Ribbon - Autumn colours with ribbon or trim (I used lace)

Simply Papercraft - Anything Goes

Craft Rocket Challenges - Anything Goes

Crafting with an attitude - Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by. Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think.

It really does mean a lot.

TTFN

xxx

Another Guest Designer Post!

Hi everyone

Can you believe it, I was recently luck enough to be chosen as the Guest Designer at Fussy and Fancy after submitting my Monochrome and one other colour project in to their recent challenge.

Of course, I had to say yes! 

So for this new challenge Fussy and Fancy are being sponsored by:

Magnolia-licious

The very sweet and generous

Diana is offering 

 a special prize

for one lucky winner!

So I thought it only right that the card I submitted for this challenge should feature non other than little Tilda.  I haven't coloured one of these up for ages now.

I used the Christmas Tilda with Cat that I stamped up ages ago.

I love these colours for Christmas - soo pretty don't you think.

The image is coloured with my Copics for a change.

Then simply layered up on dark aqua card and then onto a piece of Stampin Up paper that I have had for a while. 

The gorgeous ribbon comes from Crafty Ribbons.

The die cut I have had in my stash for a while now.

Gosh, get me using up all my bits and bobs like this. Lol

So there you go then, my GDT card for Fussy and Fancy's current 

"Christmas in July" challenge.

Hope you like it.

I shall enter it into the following challenges too:

Christmas at Sweet Stampin - Anything Goes (Until 9/8/16)

Crafting by Designs - Christmas in July (Until 26/7/16)

Crafty Gals Corner - Christmas in July (Until 26/7/16)

Stampin Royalty - Christmas in July (Until 26/7/16)

Deep Ocean Challenges - Christmas in July (Until 25/7/16)

Doing a happy dance!!

Hi all,

Just popping in to share my exciting news.

So, why the title to my post you ask?

Go on, ask me, ask me, ask me!

Oh, alright I'll tell you.

I have been bursting to tell you all for ages now but couldn't until the challenge post went live.

Mitzi Sato Wiuff messaged me on Facebook and asked me if I would like to be a Guest Designer for a forthcoming challenge at Aurora Wings!!

Can you blimmin believe it?  No, neither could I!!

Obviously I had to give it serious thought................. for like a nano second!! Lol

Would I?? You bet I would.

I love Mitzi's images and have three of her colouring books as well as dozens of Aurora Wings images. What an honour.

So the challenge is a Bingo Grid - but it's not just any old Bingo Grid, oh no!

Look!

So, you will see that not only is there nine squares with different things in but each square is a different colour.

So, not only could you choose three, six or even 9 elements to work with you could also choose 9 different colours or  a mixture of the two or indeed every single bit of it! Hahahaha.

So I decided to go with a mix of the two and I chose:

Thread (Pinky/purple)

Die Cuts (Butterfly and leaves)

Beads (pearls)

Lace

Flowers

Bow (tied in the thread)

Layers

Cheesecloth

Sentiment

Purple

Orange 

Yellow

(Mind you there is a bit of red and blue in there too!!)

I think I got a bit carried away, don't you? hehehe

So I chose to use "Harvest Elf" and you can find her here

Isn't she gorgeous?

So, here is the card I made:

The image is coloured with my Polychromo Pencils, lots of them!!

I matted and layered the card on lilac card and then  put a layer of cheesecloth between the image and a darker piece of purple card.

The whole of that is layered on to a piece of Yellow card and I have added purple lace and pearls down the side.

The die cut butterfly is coloured with my Fleximarkers/Promarkers.

The gold flowers are from Samaflora on Facebook, the others I have had in my stash for ages.

The sentiment is one I have had for ages given to me by a very good friend.

So, there you have it.  

What do you think? 

I have to be honest I really enjoyed colouring this image.  Just when you think you have done all the bits of one colour you find another bit that should be the same colour but it is so absorbing, I just lose myself in the colouring and before I know it two hours have flown by. 

I will come back later and add a few challenges, well I feel like I should because I am actually really proud of it. xxx

Challenges:

Dragonfly Dreams - Anything Goes until 24/07/16

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes Challenge 38

ABC Challenge - Lots of Layers until 27/07/16

CAS Flowers.

Hello everybody

Well, don't blog for ages and then can't keep away! Lol

So I was just browsing through the blogs I follow and saw the current challenge at Less is More which is to use a stencil.

So, I thought, why not.

Went through my stencils and came across a lovely Tulip stencil from Clarity, found the perfect sentiment to go with it and voila - a card.

So here it is then.

Now this isn't the full stencil.

The full stencil has three tulips on it and also the word Tulips.

So I masked off one of the tulips and the word and using a sponge and my Distress Ink Pads, set to work.

I honestly think it took longer to mask off the flower and word than it did to make the card. Lol

I have used Festive Berries and Barn Door on the flower heads and Bundled Sage and Peeled Paint on the leaves.  I also added a bit of bundled sage on the flower heads too for some shading.

The fabulous sentiment stamp is also from Clarity and I think it fits perfectly.

I had forgotten how much fun CAS cards can be so I think I will be making a few more of these somehow.

Anyway, I shall enter this card into the following challenges:

Less is More - Use a Stencil

Lemon Shortbread - Anything Goes

Shopping our Stash - How does your garden grow?

Craft your passion - Anything goes

A hint of colour!

Hi all

Just popping in to show you my latest bit of colouring.

This was an image from Mitzi's Gardens & Goddesses Colouring Book, Vol 1.

These images are a joy to colour.

This one is called Pansy and you can find the digital image in Mitzi's Aurora Wings shop on Etsy here.

Because this image is a little larger I decided to turn it in to a wall hanging for a friend. 

The current challenge at Aurora Wings is Black and White and one other colour.

I decided to go for orange, my friend's favourite colour.

So here is my creation:

I am actually really proud of this.  I am a member of Alyce's colouring classes at Kit and Clowder and before I joined I would NEVER have attempted something like this.

I have had a set of Art sketching pencils for ages but never had the courage to use them so this is a first for me.

There are four different shades of orange on those pansies and they look stunning in the flesh, so to speak!

For the skin and hair I have used a variety of different lead thicknesses ranging from 4H to 6B.

Looking at it now I think I should have gone a bit heavier on the forehead but at least I have learnt something for the next one I do.

So I am going to enter this into the following challenges:

Aurora Wings - Black, white and one other colour

A Gem of a Challenge - Anything but a card

Brown Sugar Challenges - Anything Goes

Crafting with Friends - Anything Goes

Fussy and Fancy - Say it with flowers

In the pink!

Hi All

Now that I know this card has been received I can happily post it to my blog and enter it into the Clarity Stamp Challenge.

This is a Christening card I was asked to make by my daughter.

She had been asked to be godmother to little Lettie, oh she is so cute! and obviously needed a card for the Christening.

What to make though?

It was going to be Beatrix Potter related but then I remembered my Baby baby Groovi plates so I set to work with those.

This is what I came up with - and if I say so myself I am really pleased with how it turned out.

The mane and tail are actually not that red in real life but quite a dark pink.

I wish I had gone over the name more than once as I did with the other words - looks a bit lost there doesn't it?

I used my Distress markers to colour everything except the hearts and these were coloured with my Spectrum Noir Pencils.

I added a little highlight to each heart and I really think it makes a difference.

Bit of character building all around the hexagon - took a while!!

My only disappointment is that I can see the double sided tape where I attached it to the backing card.

 I was going to do a wrap around and clean forgot! DOH!

Anyway, good news is my daughter was thrilled to bits with it which makes me a happy bunny.

So I am going to enter it into the Clarity Stamp Challenge which this month is Anything Goes