More kraftiness

I enjoyed colouring Sidoney the dog on a kraft card base a few days back so when I set out to make a card for cat-loving friends I decided to go the same way. The standing cat is coloured to look a bit like the all white one they have now, her curled up companion bears a passing resemblance to their previous cat. Neither of them would stand for the antics of that pesky rodent though!

I’ve used another of the fantastic Katzelkraft sets I bought recently. These are such fun to combine in different ways. I did have plans to use the wrapped gifts from the accessories set as my friend’s cat is an avid box fan, if there’s an open box, she will be sitting or standing in it without question. In the end though, I couldn’t resist a little scene with the cheeky mouse teasing his two opponents. 

I wanted a Christmas tree in the scene but didn’t have a suitably sized stamp in my stash so I decided to have a go at drawing my own. I sketched it on some scrap paper first to make sure my limited drawing skills were up to the task, then scribbled pencil on the back and transferred it to the card, drew over the faint pencil lines with a fineline marker and coloured with pencils. The garland (or string of tiny lights if you prefer to think of them that way) is just dots of paint pen. I think it turned out OK!

Stamps:
Les Chats Russe (Katzelkraft, no longer with us)
Sentiment from Foxy Christmas (Woodware)

Paper:
Kraft 

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)

Other:
Coloured pencils
Posca paint pen (white)
Black fineliner
Corner Chomper

As my little mouse is definitely showing some sass, I’m playing for the first time at Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers where this month’s theme is “Cheeky Christmas” — click the image for challenge details!

Can't stand the rain?

The song title for this month's challenge at the Craft Barn is very apt for April - I Can't Stand the Rain!

I'm definitely going to show my age with this one - the disco version by Eruption is the first and only thing to pop into my head on mention of this title (although I confess I did have to look up the name of the group to make absolutely sure I had it right!).

Lots of hand drawing on this postcard - I started by drawing the curved lines and lettering the song title and group name, adding just a bit of Copic colour in shades of blue/aqua. Then I had a go at drawing rain drops (this tutorial on YouTube is very useful) and although I need a fair bit more practice, I don't think they're too bad for a first attempt.

I masked the bottom of the postcard and stamped the paisley pattern to fill in above the top curve.

This is not my usual style and I had fun experimenting - play time!

Supplies:
Smooth white card
Fine line marker
Copics
Pencil, blending stump and eraser
White pencil
Paisley Scrapblock stamp (Cornish Heritage Farms, no longer with us)
Brilliance Graphite Black ink by Tsukineko 

Thanks for stopping by!

Birthday olives

It was my hubby's birthday recently and this is the card I made him. He's a fan of olives and olive oils (he actually had oils as his gift) so I went in that direction.

I did something unheard of for me here - I drew my focal image! I have one olive stamp (from a set by the original Cornish Heritage Farms) but it was really a bit small for what I wanted to do. I decided to just get over my conviction that I can't draw and using the small stamped image and a photograph of a real olive branch for guidance, I sketched very lightly in pencil and then coloured using a combination of Copic markers and watercolour pencils, aiming for a "borderless" look. I was quite pleased with the result.

The olive image is mounted on a background done with home-made shimmer spray and pigment from a watercolour pencil brushed on through drywall tape for a bit of textural interest. I made speckles by wetting the surface and sanding the pencil over it (the blue around the olives and a dark purpley colour on the background panel) and also by flicking thinned down black acrylic paint from a brush. I added a few black enamel dots and a couple of photo corners for more texture and contrast.

Stamps:
Sentiment from Big Day Today by Waltzingmouse Stamps
Hand drawn image of olives

Ink: Versafine Onyx Black by Tsukineko

Paper:
Bamboo Mixed Media paper by Hahnemuhl
Laid texture
Black

Other:
Copic markers
Watercolour pencils
Shimmer spray made from Tumbled Glass reinker and Turquoise Perfect Pearls
Drywall tape 
Tim Holtz/Sizzix ATC and Photo corners die
Black acrylic paint
Black enamel dots

Thanks for stopping by!

Hot n Spicy!

The DCM team have issued a group dare this week - hot 'n spicy. We can interpret that any way we like so here's mine - you can click through for a closer view...



The chilli pepper was hand drawn and coloured with Prismacolor pencils blended with Sansodor. I messed up what I wanted to do a couple of times which resulted in it being cut out and used in a different way than I originally planned! Still, I quite like the extra little bit of dimension!

I used the faux burnt edges technique (tutorial here at Cornish Heritage Farms) and I thought a stamp to say the chilli had passed the censors in Bombay would be a fun finishing touch:o)

Supplies: Weathered Wood backgrounder (CHF), Passed Censor stamp (Alluring Impressions), Prismacolor pencils/OMS/stump, Tim Holtz distress inks (Fired Brick, Tea Dye, Vintage Photo, Walnut Stain), Tria marker, Copic blender pen

Hope your weekend has been a good one, may the spice be with you ;o)