Far Away Messages!

Hello everyone

Congratulations to all our winners in the February challenge.

Just a last little bit of inspiration for you.

This image is called Far Away Messages

Isn't she gorgeous?

My image was coloured with my copic markers and if I am totally honest, I am not really happy with this.  I had an idea in my head for the colours on her tail and it just didn't work out how I had imagined it.  I had done everything else and I didn't really want to start over so it is what it is!

Do you do that?

Have an idea in your head that just doesn't work out on paper?

What do you do?  Go with it or throw it away?

I'm just loathed to throw images away that have taken quite a while to colour up, seems such a waste of time.  Hey ho.  I now know what doesn't work! Lol

The little seahorse and starfish are wooden shapes to which I have added some of the fabulous Mermaid Tails Glitter by Lisa Horton Crafts - it is fabulous stuff and it changes colour depending on the colour of the surface you are applying it too.  It's awesome.

The backing papers are from one of my many Lili of the Valley pads which are no longer available.  Goodness knows what I am going to do when I run out. Mind you, that won't be for a little while yet as I have a few!! Lol

Back soon with some more, hopefully better, inspiration.

TTFN

XXX

Holly Flower Basket - Beautifully Pastel

Hello Polkadoodlers

How are you all doing in this nasty weather?

I don't know about you but I am getting fed up of the wind and the rain.  Roll on Summer and some warm sunshine.  Well, I can live in hope can't I? Lol

So, as my blog post title suggests I have a little Holly to share with you today.

Holly Flower Basket was part of the fabulous release earlier in the year and I have to say the images are all adorable.  I think this one would make a lovely Mother's Day card, don't you?

Using pastel colours was what the Design Team were challenged to do for the brand new challenge over at Digi Choosday today.  

Remember, you get a huge discount on selected digital downloads today, but you have to hurry, it doesn't last for long and it would be a shame not to take advantage of such a wonderful discount.

Coloured with my Copics in what I hope you think are pastel colours.  I tried a new blend for blonde hair this time which was a suggestion from a lady in the Kit and Clowder group on Facebook.  I quite like it, what do you think?  

The gorgeous papers I have used on here are from Winnie Wonderland Paper Heaven 5 and 6 - both gorgeous digital paper downloads.

The sentiment, which I thought fitted the image perfectly is from the Winnie Celebrations Sentiments Kit 1.

Quite a simple card this time but I really do think that these wonderful images speak for themselves, don't you.  It seems a shame to detract from the image with lots of embellishments.

Are you a clean and simple or a fussy and fancy person when it comes to making cards?  I'd love to know.

So, that's it for now.

See you again soon and I look forward to seeing what you make to join in with the challenge, which as you know is always:

ANYTHING GOES

Challenges:

A Bit More Time to Craft #110- Anything Goes

A perfect time to Craft February - Anything Goes

Classic Design Challenge February - Anything Goes

Crafts Galore Encore February - Anything Goes

Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge - Anything with patterned paper goes

Daisy Chain Challenges #38 - For the Girls

Love to Craft February - Anything Goes

Creative Crafters Challenge #25 - Anything Goes

World Wide Open Design Team Challenge - Anything Goes for a DT

Crafter's Castle -Anything Goes

Brown Sugar Challenge #298 - Anything Goes

Love Hearts with Oddella.

A very good morning to you all.

Do Valentine Cards always have to be in red or pink?

I don't think so, and that is the thinking behind my latest card.

This card features the gorgeous Oddella available here

As soon as I saw this image I just knew she was going to be on my Valentine Card.

Now because she is a bit, "out of the ordinary" shall we say, I thought that the colours I used should be non ordinary too.

You may or may not know that I love purple so that was the colour I went with.  I added a bit of bright green on her skirt to make it a non traditional plaid.

Now obviously she had to have hair that was "different" too so I went with a fabulous Red Head look for her.

The Design Team were challenged to add heart shaped balloons on our projects this week and I knew just how I was going to do that.

Have you seen the Timeless Rose collection which was released recently?  Well if you haven't just click on the link and go have a look - it is a gorgeous collection.  You don't have to buy the whole collection, it all comes as seperate components too, but to be honest when I looked, it just made sense to buy it all! Lol

So in the stamp collection is this perfect stamp of heart shaped balloons! Just what I needed.

I used the die to make a frame and then added a white square on top to stamp the balloons on.  The Heart shapes at the bottom are also part of the die set and I stamped a small heart from the stamp collection on top of them.

The backing papers are from the Winnie Wonderland Paper Heaven 6 download and I love them all.

All in all, I am pretty happy with how this came out.  I think I am getting a bit more adventurous with my layouts these days and that is thanks, in part, to being a part of this fabulous Digi Choosday Design Team.

Are you adventurous with how you put your cards together?  Do you prefer Clean and Simple or The more the Merrier?  Why not leave me a comment and let me know?

So, there you go, that's it from me for today.

See you soon.

xxxx

Challenges:

Always Fun Challenges - Anything Goes

Dream Valley Challenge - Love

Incy Wincy Designs - Love Love Love (and DT Call)

Colouring in Scrapland - Hand Colouring + Opt Love is All Around

Get Creative Challenge - Use Hearts

Angie's Digital Stamps - Anything Goes + Opt Love

CD Sunday Plus - Anything Goes

Dragonfly Dreams - It's A Love Thing

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Always Anything Goes

A bit more time to craft - Anything Goes

Darling Bud Marigold

Hi everyone

Welcome to another Team D challenge at Colour Crazy.

Sorry I am a bit late posting - been out all day and forgot to schedule! Duh!!

You know when you see an image and think, "I love that, I just have to have it"?

Well, that was the case with this gorgeous Darling Bud Marigold from Polkadoodles.

It is one of a set of Darling Buds images, all of which are gorgeous, but this one just stood out for some reason and I just had to use it for this challenge.

The fabulous POLKADOODLES is our sponsor for this fortnight and we got to choose which image we wanted to use, this was the one I chose.

So, having chosen my image, I printed her out and put her on my desk!!

WHAM!!!!

Where on earth do I start?

I just sat there for a while, staring at the image and thinking "what on earth have I done?"

Well, after a mild panic, I thought back to one of the fabulous classes that Alyce Keegan does over on Facebook in her group "Kit and Clowder"

Now if you haven't seen this group - 1. Where on earth have you been hiding? (lol) and 2.  You really should go and have a look.

My colouring used to be - shall we say - Basic!! (and that is an understatement, believe me!!)

Then, I found Kit and Clowder and my colouring really started to change.

Now, I am not saying it is beyond reproach, good heavens no.  There is always room for improvement, but - and here's the thing - I am learning to colour using techniques such as lightsource and shading/blending.  Trust me, you really should go and have a look.

Anyway, I digress.  Thinking back to a previous class, where there was a lot of fine detail, Alyce's suggestion was to not be too specific.

By that I mean, treat the image as a bigger picture rather than individual petals, such as here on this image.

So, I used five different colours and literally, dotted the colour where I thought it should go.

Now, I don't know about you, but I think nature is pretty random and following that rule of thumb, I am really happy with how this turned out.

I just love the colours of Autumn - so rich and elegant and always give such a brilliant display at an otherwise dull time of the year, don't you agree?

I decided that after all that work on the image, I wanted it to be the centre of attention so I added it to a stepper card as the main focus.

The papers I have used are from a Claritystamp paper pad called Rainbow River.  This is a double sided paper pack of the very highest quality.  Maybe not the cheapest paper pack around but undoubtedly one of the very best you will find.

The sentiments are both from Polkadoodles - I used Winnie Celebrations Sentiments Kit 3 and Winnie Special Moments Quotes.

These sentiment download kits are so bloomin' useful, there are sooooo many sentiments and quotes to fit just about every occasion.  If you just type "sentiments" in the search box, it will bring up loads and loads of downloadable as well as physical sentiments of every type.

I used the same paper pad to add little accents to the card.

Here's a little close up of the image to show you what I mean about the colouring.

Be kind now!! 🙏🙏

So, there you go then.  What do you think?

I just love these colours together and they are the first colours I think of when I think of Marigolds, although I know they come in other colours too.

The other thing I did different on this image was her eyes!

I always seem to go for blue or green eyes but just thought brown would be more suitable on this image.  Do you have a "go to" eye colour or do you vary them?

Let me know in the comments, I would be interested to see who says what.

So, that's it for now.

TTFN

***

Challenges:

Creatalicious Challenge - Anything Goes (option of hearts)

QKR Stampede - Anything Goes

Creative Fingers - Anything Goes

Crafty Catz - Anything Goes (Option Favourite colours - I LOVE the colours of autumn!)

Scrapper's Delights - Anything Goes

As you Like It Challenge  -Warm or Cool Colours - Your favourite and why.(Reasons quoted in post)

Aud Sentiments - Anything Goes with a sentiment

Krafty Chicks - Anything Goes

Southern Girls Challenge - Anything Goes

Winter Birthday Card - Digi Choosday

Hello everyone

Firstly, can I take this opportunity to wish you all a Very Happy New Year.

I hope you all had a fabulous festive time and enjoyed yourselves.

So, new year, new challenge.

This is my first project for 2020.  (Gosh that feels weird!)

Anyhoo, here we go.

Our challenges at Digi Choosday, as you probably know, are always ANYTHING GOES!  However, the Design Team always have little extra challenges to build in to their projects and this first project of 2020 was to make a Winter Birthday card.

Isn't she just beautiful?  She is called Snowdrop from the Darling Buds collection.  This collection of images is just tooooo pretty.  I think I may have to have them all! Lol

Now the image comes in black and white for you to colour yourself but as a fabulous bonus the download also includes a pre-coloured image and that is what I have used here.  The reason I went for the pre-coloured image on this occasion was because I wanted to make a matching tag and I wanted it to be an exact copy so I just printed two images in different sizes which worked perfectly.

The Happy Birthday sentiment is from the Winnie Celebrations 3 sentiments download and the other sentiment is from the Quotes - Winnie Special Moments download.

Now because I adore the image I didn't want to overpower it with lots of flowers and embellishments so I decided to just use a background paper.  Oh my, as soon as I saw this paper I just knew it would be a perfect background to the image.  This is from the Winnie Wonderland Paper Heaven 6 download - isn't it just the prettiest paper??

I always have to add my images on an angle (well more often than not anyway), don't know why, just think it looks a bit more interesting that way.  How do you like to add your images?  Are you a jaunty or level kind of crafter??  I'd love to know.

Anyway, just before I go, I want to remind you that not only is today the start of our new challenge at Digi Choosday, there is, of course a FABULOUS HUGE DISCOUNT available for you to use at the POLKADOODLES STORE.  Just hop on over to the challenge blog and you will find the discount code at the top of the new challenge post.  I'm sure some of you will have received a few pennies for Christmas eh?? Lol

Until next time.

xxxx

Challenges:

CD Sunday Plus - Anything Goes

Dragonfly Dreams - Anything Goes

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes

Challenge up your life - Anything Goes

Crafter's Castle - Anything goes

Crafty Calendar - Add a Tag

Brown Sugar challenge - Anything Goes

Cute Card Thursday - Anything Goes

A Bit More Time to Craft - Anything Goes

A Perfect Time to Craft - Anything Goes

Classic Design Challenge - Anything Goes

Through the Window - Digi Choosday Challenge

Hello everyone

Well, things are moving along quite quickly now aren't they?  Not long before the big man goes a visiting!  Hope you are all ready? Lol

I wanted to show you my latest creation today which is a bit different for me.  I feel like I have regressed to my childhood! hahaha

For my card this time I made a "Window frame" which I cut out of Kraft card and then painted with white gesso.  I suppose I could have just used white card really couldn't I? Lol

So I wanted people to think that they were in this room and were looking out at the sweet little Carol Singer outside with her pretty little reindeer and singing birds. The image is called Winnie Heavenly Angel, Musical Winter, isn't she just the cutest?

In order to make it look like an inside window I added a piece of "net curtain" and a "pelmet" (gosh I sound old now don't I??)  I used a wooden skewer for the pole and then folded the top of the net over and stitched along the width and then threaded it onto the pole.  I was going to leave it like that but it just didn't look finished so added the chunkier lace on top.

To add to the feeling of being inside I attached a line of little stockings to the window sill. These came from the Winnie Winterland Tags and Frames digital download I changed the colour of these in my Craft Artist programme to match the "wallpaper" 😀

I added a sentiment, again from the same Tags and Frames download, which I again changed the colour on and then finished off the front with some sparkly gems.  

Then I coloured up the sweet little image and added it to the inside of the card.  I had to fiddle around with where it printed on my page so that when I trimmed the paper it fitted square on the inside.

The image is coloured with my polychromo pencils and the background is done with Pan Pastels.  I have added some sparkle to the fur on her hat and coat but it doesn't really show up very well on the pics.  Looks okay IRL though! Lol

So, there you go then.  What do you think?  Does it look like my granddaughter made it?? Lol (She is 2 by the way! 😂😂😂😂)

Now remember today is the start of the new challenge over at Digi Choosday which means not only do you have another two weeks to submit an entry for the challenge but you also get a MAHOOSIVE DISCOUNT on selected digital products over at the POLKADOODLES STORE.

Hop on over to the DIGI CHOOSDAY CHALLENGE BLOG and pick up your DISCOUNT CODE and have a mooch around the store.

You have to be quick though, it only lasts until midnight!

Right, I shall be off then.  Please let me know what you think of my project, I do love to read all your comments.

TTFN

xxx

Challenges:

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge - Christmas

Cutie Pie Challenge - Christmas Cuties

Dream Valley Challenges - Christmas

Incy Wincy Designs Challenge - Christmas without red or green

Make My Monday - Anything Christmas

Addicted to Stamps - Cold and Frosty (Last Challenge)

CD Sunday Challenge - Anything Christmassy

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes

Colour Crazy Challenge - Be a Foxicorn!

Hello everyone

So today, we see another challenge over at Colour Crazy.

Our fabulous sponsor this time is:

KNITTY KITTY DIGIS

They really do have some fabulous images, a real good mix.

For my project I got to use this gorgeous little fella:

He is called The Foxicorn

I just couldn't resist him.

So here is my card.

I was going to colour him up in pretty unicorn colours but then I decided to just keep him as a fox who was trying to be a Unicorn.

He is coloured with my Copics and I have used my Sepctrum Noir Sparkle pen to add a bit of sparkle to his horn. (Actually, I decided to go the whole hog and make him sparkly all over.  Sadly it doesn't really show up in the pics but he is really sparkly, honest!) Lol

I am really pleased with how he looks.

What do you think?

Would you have coloured him in fantasy colours or left him as proper foxy colours?

I'd love to know what you would have done.

Anyway, can't wait to see what you all submit into the challenge this time.

Have fun and good luck.

Challenges:

Crafting by Designs - Anything Goes

Crafty Creations Challenge - Anything Goes

Sisterhood of Crafters - Forest Animals

Lemon Shortbread - Anything Goes

Through the Craftroom Door - Anything Goes

Cutie Pie Challenge - Add an Animal

2 Crafty Critter Crazies - Anything goes with an animal

Brown Sugar Challenge - Anything Goes

All will be revealed!

Hi all

That got you didn't it?  Lol.  I am here to show you my latest project which is this cute little Reveal card.

This is my project for the new challenge over at Digi Choosday.

As you know our challenges are always Anything Goes but the Design Team always receive some extra challenges to incorporate into their projects.

This time we were tasked to make a shaped card which had a "Reveal" on it.

The other aspect we were to incorporate was Halloween/Autumn/Fall.  I instantly thought of Halloween and racked my brain for inspiration - not easy at the best of times! Lol

Well, whilst looking through my Polkadoodles images I came across some gorgeous Autumnal images which included the word Bonfire! Eureka!

Why do I never think of Bonfire night when someone mentions Autumn?  

Well, today I did.

So these images are taken from the Autumn 2015 Bundle - this is a fabulous collection of Autumnal images and was perfect for what I had in mind.

I used my Craft Artist to manipulate the images.  I made three identical sized frames and put my images inside the frames.

The first image (above) is a complete image from the bundle.

The second image is one of the many leaves in the bundle.  I just added lots of leaves in ever decreasing sizes to make my "bonfire" and then added the word Bonfire underneath which again is a standalone image in the bundle.

The third image, again a standalone image, I added the wording to, to let everyone know where and when the bonfire was going to be held - my Reveal!

The gorgeous spotty background paper is from the Winnie Sugar Sprinkles Paper Heaven 1 bundle digital download

I used one of my Martha Stewart Corner stamps to do the detail on the pull tag, which I think looks kinda sweet.

Then I added two Bare Basics wooden flat beads to finish it off.

I did think of adding some leaves to the bottom of the card, to make it look like a floor of leaves but I decided against it as I didn't want to detract from the main purpose of the card.

What do you think?  Is it too simple?

Or, does it do what it is supposed to do.

Now I have added this little video so that you can see the full "Reveal"

I'm not used to doing videos so it is a bit on the shaky side but you get the idea right? Lol

I am looking forward to seeing what you all come up with.

Remember, you will also be able to save a whopping discount on selected digital downloads today too.  Just use the special code on the Digi Choosday blog.  Let's face it, you can never have enough Polkadoodles stash right? 

TTFN

xx

Challenges:
CD Sunday Plus - Anything Goes
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes
Challenge Up Your Life - Frames
Crafter's Castle - Anything Goes (Option Fall/Autumn)
Di's Digi Designs - Include a pumpkin
Just us girls, trend week - Frame It!
Brown Sugar Challenge - Anything Goes
Corrosive challenge - Anything Goes
Shopping our Stash - Pumpkin/Autumn
Allsorts Challenge - Spots and/or stripes

A pretty Autumn birthday Card

Hello lovely peeps.

Thought I would show you this lovely little birthday card for a little girl with an Autumn birthday.

I have made this card as my DT inspiration piece for the new challenge over at Digi Choosday.  Remember, not only is it the start of a new challenge today, but there is also a mahoosive discount on selected digis too.  If you are just starting, or even half way through your Christmas Cards, now is the time to stock up on those beautiful Christmas Digital images and/or paper packs, and with a super discount you could even consider both! 

As you know our challenges at Digi Choosday are always

ANYTHING GOES

However, the DT always have little extra challenges to tackle.

This time, we had to make either a Halloween/Autumn/Fall card which incorporated a double sided hanging tag.

As soon as I saw this gorgeous Winnie Celebrations Cake Time I just knew it was the perfect image for my project.  Just look at those gorgeous colours on her dress, how could I not use her.

Now this is a pre-coloured Digital Stamp but she also comes in black and white so that you can colour her up yourself.  Mind you when they look this fabulous, why would you bother eh? Lol

So my double sided hanging tag was made using the Winnie Winterland Tags and Frames digital paper download. 

 These are fabulous because if you have a package such as Craft Artist or similar you can manipulate these images and then print them off instead of trying to make all the bits and pieces individually.

So I used two tags, a couple of flowers and leaves from the Horace & Boo Floral Foliage digital download.  I placed the flowers on to one of the tags, made it look 3D and added a drop shadow.

 On the other tag I added a sentiment from the Winnie Special Moments Quotes digital download pack and then I printed them, cut them out and glued them together.

The background paper is from the Winnie Sugar Sprinkles Paper Heaven 1 digital download and the two gorgeous orangey pieces are from the Winnie Starfish & Sandcastles 9 digital paper pack.

I used some orange twine to add my tag to the card and then finished off with some autumnal flowers and sparkly gems.

I am pretty pleased with how this turned out and the only thing I think I would change if I were to make another similar card would be to make the flower and leaves fit inside the tag shape so that the overhang didn't show on the reverse the way it does on here.  What about you?  Do you like it?  Is there anything you would do differently?

Please, if you have a moment, leave me a comment and let me know what you think.  I always love to read them.

So, there you go then, that's me for today.

Looking forward to seeing what you all come up with for the challenge.

See you soon

TTFN 

xx

Challenges:
Crafts Galore Encore Challenge - Anything Goes
A bit more time to craft - Anything Goes
Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes
Always fun challenges - Anything Goes
Cute n Crafty Challenge - Anything Goes
Cutie Pie Challenge - Celebrations
Make my Monday - Autumn Colours
The Paper Girls - Anything Goes
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes
Crafty Friends Challenge - Special Occasion

Colour Crazy Challenge - Fred She Said

Hi everyone.

Time once again for Team D to offer a little inspiration for our challenge.

We are lucky to be sponsored this time by the wonderful,

FRED SHE SAID.

I got to use this fabulous "Apple For Teacher"

I thought it was a fabulous image to use for a little gift for one of the teachers of my grandchildren.  Mind you, I'm not sure their Mum will agree! Lol

Anyway, I went ahead and made something anyway.

I didn't want to make just a card this time so.........

I made a cute wall hanging picture.

Coloured with my Copics.

The backing paper is from Claritystamp and the quality let me tell you is second to none.  The sheets are double sided and you get four of each design.  Trouble is they are so nice, I need one pad to use and one pad to just look at! Lol

I added a red Thank You ribbon which you can find at Crafty Ribbons here. (It seems they only do it in white, grey or cream now though.)

So, remember we are a colouring challenge and we expect to see some hand colouring on your project.  Unfortunately, we do not accept digitally coloured, or paper pieced images.

Can't wait to see what you come up with folks.

TTFN

xxx

Challenges:

Aud Sentiments - Anything Goes plus a sentiment

Crafting with an attitude - Anything Goes

Creative Knockouts - Anything Goes

Imagine That Creative Playground - Anything Goes

Crafting by Designs - Anything Goes

Crafty Creations - Anything Goes

Christmas Gift Bag in a hurry.

Hi all,

So I have made a start on Christmas with this cute little gift bag and tag.

As you know the theme at Digi Choosday is always Anything Goes.  However, the Design Team always get some little extra challenges to incorporate into their projects.  I love this idea, challenges me to go a little bit out of my comfort zone.

The main image is called Winnie Angel - Delivering Candy.

I absolutely love this image - she is just so sweet and the perfect image to use on something like this.  I normally like to colour my own images but these pre-coloured images are just the easiest way to produce something fabulous in a hurry.

We were asked to use a 2inch wide ribbon, string and 3 buttons on our projects.

Because I didn't have a ribbon 2 inches wide I have made a double bow instead so it looks huge! Lol.

The string has been used to attach my gift tag to the bag.  The tag itself is taken from the Winnie Winterland - Tags and Frames digital download.  There are some fabulous bits and pieces in this pack let me tell you.

Behind that sweet image there is a holly wreath which is taken from the Winnie Winterland - Embellies digital download and I think it gives the perfect background for this little bag don't you?

Those candy canes are also taken from the same Embellies digital download pack and I cut them out to give a little bit of depth and then (rather cleverly I thought) added my 3 buttons as the holly berries.

I finished off the bag with some flowers from my stash.  Next time I make something like this I think I will have to look at the flowers a little closer.  Who knew there were so many different shades of white?  I think they spoil the overall look of the bag, what do you think?

So, I have made the bag but now I just have to decide what to put in it and who to give it to, Lol.

Who would you give a bag like this to?  I mean, my daughter would think I had flipped if I gave it to her and my granddaughter would only be interested in the contents - then again she is only2! Hahahaha.

I can't wait to see what you all come up with this time.

Please let me know what you think of my little gift bag, especially your thoughts on the flowers?

See you all soon

TTFN

xxx

Challenges:

The Holly and the Ivy Christmas Challenge - Anything Christmas Goes

A bit more time to craft - anything goes

A perfect time to craft - anything goes

Classic Design Team open challenge - Anything for a DT goes

Crafts Galore Encore Challenge #67 - Anything Goes

Merry Little Christmas challenge - Anything Christmas Goes

Not just cards challenge - Anything goes

Pearly Sparkles Challenge - Add a ribbon and/or bow.

Creative Crafters Challenge - Anything goes