Big Bunch of flowers!

Hello all,

Well, this week I am going to show you a card using the most fabulous image called Winnie Celebrations - Big Bunch from our wonderful sponsor 

POLKADOODLES

Isn't she pretty?

This week, it is Team D's turn at Colour Crazy Challenge to inspire you.  If you haven't used Polkadoodles images before, well, really where have you been? Lol

Nikky Hall has an awesome array of fabulous goodies including dies, stencils, paper pads, digital download kits and images, digital downloadable papers and sentiments and so much more.  You really should go and have a look around the store, you are sure to find something that you love.

Remember folks, this is a colouring challenge.  We must see some hand colouring on your project.  We do not accept digital colouring/projects.

So, here is the card I made this time.

Now I was going to go with the same colour scheme as the image package but in the end I decided to go with an orange colour scheme instead.

The papers are from a Lili of the Valley paper pad which they sadly don't make anymore.  Such a shame because they were very reasonably priced and such fabulous quality.  Aah well.

The image is coloured with my Copics and the sentiment is one of Lisa Horton Crafts new Ticker Tape sentiment stamps.  Lisa has recently launched her own range after being with Creative Expressions for several years and I can tell you she has certainly hit the ground running.  If you are looking for good quality dies, stamps, papers, glitters and embellishments then why not just pop over to That Craft Place and have a quick look round.

Better still, why not tune in to Create and Craft on April 3rd as Lisa has THE most beautiful new release coming and you really will LOVE it.

So, please join in with our new challenge at Colour Crazy and above all, have fun.

TTFN

xxx

Challenges:

Creative Knockouts - Anything Goes

Krafty Chicks Challenge - All Occasions

Through the Purple Haze - Anything Goes

Little Daisy - Perfect for Spring.

Hello everyone.

I hope you are all managing to stay safe and well throughout this unprecedented crisis?

It still amazes me how selfish people can be with all this panic buying doesn't it you?

Surely if we were all just a little bit sensible and only bought what we normally bought then there would be enough for everyone?  I just find it so incredibly sad.

Anyway, I digress.  Enough about this Virus thing, let's get to the important stuff of the day eh?

On to what we are all really here for - crafting!

So we are now well into our March challenge over at Ching Chou Kuik's Facebook challenge and this month's challenge for all you lovely people is Easter/Floral but some weeks the Design Team are challenged with something a little extra and this week we were to use lots of layers.

So here is my card for this week using Little Daisy.

The image is coloured with my copics and I decided for this image not to do any background colouring as I wanted the image to be the main focus.

The papers I have used here are from a Lili of the Valley paper pad, sadly no longer in production.

The nested flags are by Lisa Horton Crafts as are the three little flower blooms.  They are each part of new die sets recently released by Lisa on Create and Craft and I have to say they are two of my most favourite die sets ever.  The pearls in the middle of the flowers are so beautiful as they have the most fabulous shimmer on them, again one of Lisa's new releases.

I have also used a little bit of cream Sisal, also a Lisa Horton Crafts new release as is the Ticker Tape "Happy Birthday" sentiment.  They are such clean looking sentiment stamps don't you think?

Why not pop over to That Craft Place and have a look at all of Lisa's new products, there are some stunners I can tell you.

So there you go folks.  Hope you can find the time to take part in this month's challenge.  I will be back at some point during next week to show you my last inspiration card for this month's challenge.

TTFN

xxx

Challenges:

As you like it Challenge - Your favourite Easter or Spring and why.

(I chose Spring - I love this time of year as it is a new beginning for so many things and gives a burst of colour after the dreary winter hues)

Cards 4 Galz - Spring Flowers

Craft Rocket Challenges - Flowers

Seize the Birthday - A Touch of Green

Through the Purple Haze - Anything Goes

Love - Must be something in the air!

Hi all

February is all about love isn't it?

Well, just because it is about love doesn't mean it has to be pink or red right?

This is the card I made for week 3 of our challenge over at Ching Chou Kuik's Facebook challenge.  (The blog challenge has the same theme so you could enter there too! 😉😉)

My card features the gorgeous LOVE image which is part of the Dreaming of Love set at Ching Chou's Etsy store.  What a gorgeous set of images this is.

I coloured this with my Copics and then went over some of it with my Polychromo pencils.  I am really really pleased with how this came out.

I think it looks lovely and soft in those lemon colours don't you?

Would you use an alternative to pink/red on your Valentine's cards?

The papers are from a Lili of the Valley with Raspberry Road Designs paper pad called Heartfelt.  I decided to use two different papers and cut them on the diagonal, something a bit different.  Does it work?  

The flowers are from my stash and the sentiment and little heart are from the Polkadoodles stamp set from the new Timeless Rose collection.

The background is done with my Pan Pastels and I "painted" them on with a paint brush.

So there you go.  Hope you can find a bit of spare time to join in with our challenge this month, we always love to see your fabulous creations.

See you soon.

XXX

Challenges:

Creative Knockouts Challenge - Flower Power

Southern Girls Challenge - Anything Goes

Through the Purple Haze - Anything Goes

A Bit more time to craft - Anything Goes

A Perfect time to craft - Anything Goes

Classic Design Challenge - Anything Goes

The Crafter's Cafe Challenge - Use pink and/or red

Crafts Galore Encore - Anything Goes

Love to Craft challenge - Anything Goes

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

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

A Special Celebration - Digi Choosday

Hello all.

Can you believe we are fast approaching the end of January already?

No, neither can I!! Scary innit??

Today I am sharing with you a little gift bag that I made, along with a tag, in readiness for the birth of my fourth grandchild? Eeeeekkkkk!!

As we don't know the sex of this little beauty, I can say that because they have all been little beauties up to now, I decided to stay pretty neutral with the colours.

I printed out some of the gorgeous papers from the Baby Boom collection and changed the colour to grey and white to fit my theme. This is a fabulous little collection which features 26 A4 backing papers and 16 embellishments - just perfect when crafting for a new baby.

It is always worth having a mooch around the store at some of the older images, because there really are some beauties.

Then I chose some of the 16 embellishments and again printed them in monochrome.

To the little bib I added a sentiment from the Winnie Celebrations Kit 1

Once I was happy with the sizing I cut out all the embellishments ready to add them to my little bag.  

I made the bag using my Silhouette and used Lemon Card for the basic bag.  Then I cut the monochrome papers to size and added them to the bag, leaving a little of the lemon card showing.

Because the embellishments were all printed in monochrome I could then use my Copics to add the lemon colour as and where I wanted it, just picking out certain details on the images.

I have added a little bit of lace to the tag, which will go inside the bag with my message written on the back, but I think I may change that to ribbon instead!

Obviously there will be a small gift in the bag when the time comes (not long now) but I don't want to show that in case my daughter sees it.

I think lemon and grey is perfect for when the sex is not known, don't you??  

What other colours would you use if you wanted to be neutral??

Anyway, I hope you like my little gift bag?  Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think.  Is it enough or is it too simple??  I'm really not sure.

Hey ho, it's made now isn't it? Lol

TTFN

xxx

Challenges:

613 Avenue Create - Anything Goes Opt twist shiny

CD Sunday plus - Anything Goes

Dragonfly Dreams - Anything Goes

Challenge Up Your Life - Anything Goes

Crafty Calendar Challenge -Add a Tag

Brown Sugar Challenge - Anything Goes

Black Haired Lady - Ching Chou Kuik

Hello my lovelies.

Hope you are all keeping well?

Can't believe we are just over half way through January already, can you?

Time goes so fast these days, I sometimes wonder how we all manage to fit everything in? Lol

So, today I am here to show you my latest Ching Chou Kuik creation.

This image is called Black Haired Lady and you can find her here.

Obviously, as she is called Black Haired Lady, I just had to do her hair black. 

The background papers are from a paper pad by Claritystamp.  Really good quality and double sided too.  Those pieces across the middle of the card are the reverse side of the main background paper.  Cool eh? 

Now, I wonder if any of you can spot a difference between this card and my usual makes??

Look hard now!!

No? Well, go on then, I'll tell you.

I decided to use watercolour pencils on this card for a change.  I have two huge sets of watercolour pencils that just never see the light of day so I thought it was about time they did.

I did the skin and hair first and because they didn't turn out too bad I decided to finish her off in watercolours too.

The challenge this month is New Year or Something New (new baby, new job etc).  The DT were given a challenge to use their least favourite colour.  Well, other than pink (which really scares me) I don't seem to use a lot of green so I guess that must be a least favourite colour then eh?

Having said I don't like using green, I actually quite like how this turned out.  I even did the background with watercolour pencils too.  

I have invested in some fine paintbrushes too, as I used water brushes for this project.  I think a paintbrush and water will give more control over the colour somehow.  Well that's my theory anyway and I shall let you know how I go on.

What is your favourite medium?  Pencils, markers, watercolours, pastels, oils, distress inks???  I'd love to know.

I will be back soon with another CCK inspiration post, so see you then.

TTFN

***

Challenges:

Crafty Catz Challenge - Anything Goes (opt twist something funny)

Cardz TV - Anything Goes

Creative Fingers Challenge - Anything Goes

Scrapper's Delight - Anything Goes

As You Like It Challenge - Anything Goes

CRAFT Challenge - Anything Goes

Craft Rocket Challenges - Something New (my technique)

Cute Card Thursday - What's New (My colouring technique)

Through the Purple Haze - Anything Goes

A Bit More Time to Craft - 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

A purplicious birthday card.

Hi everyone.

Here I am again to show you my latest creation.  This is a birthday card I made for a lovely young lady.

It is Choosday again folks and you know what that means don't you?  You're right, a new challenge at Digi Choosday and a fabulously wonderful huge discount off selected digital items from the Polkadoodles store.  So why not hop over to the challenge blog and grab your code and do a wee bit of shopping.  

But, wait, hang on a minute.  Just let me tell you about my card first.

I thought I would try and show you all how versatile the world of digital stamping really is.

My card is 100% digital this time.  Yep that's right, this card is totally flat although there are elements that make it appear not to be.

Let's take a look at exactly what I did to achieve this final result shall we?

I have a digital image programme called Craft Artist and that is where I do all my manipulation of the digital images.

So, firstly I downloaded the images I wanted to use on my card.  There are three paper pieces, five digital images and two digital sentiments.  I will give you all the product details in a minute or two, just in case you want to go an spend that fabulous discount code. 😉😉

Let me show you a closer view of the finished item and you should then be able to see all the individual items.

First off I added one of the sheets of paper at the back as the base.  Then I put the other two pieces onto a black background (like matting and layering).  The programme lets you put the pieces in any order so you can move things from front to back and vice versa.

Then, on top of the lightest piece of paper I added an image of a candle.  Now this is from a Christmas set so was red with holly on.  I changed the colour in my digital programme to fit in with the rest of the card and I hid the holly by putting presents in front of the candle.  Again, the presents are from a Christmas set so the colours were all wrong for my theme so I changed them to purple.  This is great as it changes the whole image into shades of purple rather than a block of colour.

Then I added my image - the gorgeous Winnie, May Your Wishes Come True.  The only thing I did with the image was to add a shadow to it to make it look 3D and I placed her so that she looks like she is standing on the frame rather than floating in mid air.  So this is how she comes if you buy the pre-coloured image.  I wanted her to stand out against all the purple so left her in her original colours, which are of course, gorgeous.

Then I added a flower from the Horace and Boo Floral collection.  I added the image twice, grouped the two images together, (this means that you can manipulate them both at the same time in exactly the same way, making them the same size etc) and then made them look 3d decoupaged using my programme.  Again I changed the colour to match my colour scheme.  Then I copied that image twice to give me three flowers, grouped them all together and placed them in the top corner.

Then I added two sentiments.  Again I added them to white and black backgrounds to make it look as though they were matted and layered.

Printed it off and stuck it to my card base and there you go! Simples!!

So here is what I used. I have indicated which things have been edited in my digital programme just so you know.

Papers - Halloween/Autumn Paper Heaven 2 digital download

Winnie Celebrations 1 - May Your wishes come true - pre-coloured digital image

Candle and presents - Embellishments -Winnie White Christmas Printable Digi Downloads (Colour Changed)

Flowers - Floral Foliage - Horace & Boo download printable bundle  (Colour changed)

Happy Birthday Sentiment - Winnie Celebrations 3 Sentiments

May all your wishes come true sentiment - Winnie Celebrations 1 Sentiments

So, if you haven't ever thought of digital stamping, why not give it a go?

Then you could come back and leave me a message with a link so I can see what you did.

Can't wait to see all your fabulous entries in our latest challenge.  You always make choosing a Top 3 really difficult. Lol

Have fun.

TTFN

Challenges:

CD Sunday Plus Challenge - Anything Digital goes. (Everything here is digital)

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes

Corrosive Challenge - Anything Goes

A bit more time to craft - anything goes

Crafts Galore Encore Challenge - anything Goes

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

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