Happy Birthday Corinne & Irene

It's Party Time! Two of the most incredible colourers in the world (yes I know that's not actually a word. but I said it is now :P ) Celebrate their birthday today. Well today and tomorrow actually as although they're twins they were born either side of midnight so actually have different birthdays!

Both Corinne & Irene do a lot for Simply Betty Stamps so Betty (aided and abetted by Tanya) decided to set up this surprise hop to celebrate their birthdays. 

Happy Birthdays Corinne & Irene!

I hope you like what I've made for you with your own personalised digi's from SBS.

For Corinne I couldn't resist playing on your love/hate relationship with leaves! It was too tempting to miss!

I cut the leave overlay from plastic and coloured it with alcohol inks, including some metallics to give it a nice autumnal shimmer. 

I added the word 'Leaves' to the sentiment in Craft Artist 2 and coloured Corinne with my Promarkers.

Happy Birthday Corinne - I hope you like it.

Irene my computer has decided to hide the pictures I took of your card! It must have decided it's not your birthday until tomorrow so hidden them out of my sight so your pictures will be added ASAP as soon as I can track them down. Hope you're enjoying the hop x

Have a wonderful Hop. You should have started at the SBS blog and arrived with me from the lovely Sian

and you're hopping on to the wonderful Karen

Here Comes Christmas! Penny Black Wreath

It's the final challenge of the year over at Through the Purple Haze Challenges. I can't believe it's the end of the year already! I've had a great time with Through the Purple Haze Challenges since it started - first as a challenge participant & now as part of the DT. It's a great bunch of people to work with and the entries each week are amazing!

This week we are sponsored by the amazing Penny Black Stamps . They currently have a prize draw going on on their Facebook page so it's worth popping over and joining in.

I saw this idea of a paper wreath on Pinterest and decided it was perfect to pair with the 12 Days of Christmas clear stamp set I have. This is the result:

The papers are printed from the Very Merry Christmas Paper Pack 1 from Echo Park onto A4 card and cut into strips. They're then fixed onto foam wreath bases. 

Even the back looks pretty!

Here are close up of the 12 days of Christmas. I love the characters!

I stamped the images with Memento Black Tuxedo and coloured them with a range of Promarkers. I'm not going to list them here as there are far too many to list.

The rosettes are made using the technique shown in Everyone Needs a Hougie and are made on my Hougie Board. I glued everything with hot glue to make sure it was securely stuck.

Here they are hanging on my wall :D

I really hope you like them.

Have a wonderful Christmas however you are celebrating and see you in the New Year for more fun challenges xxx

I'd like to enter this into the following challenges:

Craft Your Passion - Christmas ABC - Anything but a Card 

Love to Create Challenge - Anything Goes

Parade your Crafts - Christmas Projects

Penny Black - Traditional Christmas Colours

Crafty Hands - Seasons Greetings

Anything Goes at Digi Galore :D

It's the last challenge before Christmas at Digi Galore and the theme is Anything Goes. 

I decided to do something different with Digi's this time and used the Baby Prints Digi Stamp kit from Stampin' Up in conjunction with my Foil Master from Thyme Graphics to make a simple but effective personalised Birth Congratulations card. 

I love the effect of the Foil Master as it makes something printed with a black laser printer so so special. It's all foiled a beautiful rich royal blue, but it's difficult to catch on camera. I was lucky enough to have cuddles with the lovely Myles yesterday when he was only 9 days old. He was so adorable!

As I said something rather different with a digi this time as not a Promarker in sight, but that's what I love about Digi's - their flexibility!

Thanks so much to everyone who's joined in at Digi Galore  this year. We've had a blast and love seeing your creations. Next year is going to be even bigger and better with more amazing sponsors lined up so make sure you pop over and join in x

Homemade Advent Calendar

Advent is a big thing in our house. For the last few years I've treated myself to one of the Playmobil Advent Calendars (when I can get them on special offer) and I've built up quite a following with my friends on Facebook all asking what I've got behind each day's door.

I decided to make myself an extra advent calendar this year using digi stamps and my Cougar cutting machine from Thyme Graphics . The digi stamp sets are 25 & Counting  and Jolly Bingo Bits from Stampin Up - yep - did you know they now do digi versions of some of their stamps? I'm soooooo pleased!

I designed a grid in Inkscape with doors that were attached on the left hand side and in a tiny section on the right (to keep them closed until the day). I then lined the digis up to the doors before printing them on my laser printer. I did this in 3 sections for the front and each time passed it through my Foil Master so the coloured foil attached to the laser toner. It's really difficult to capture on camera just how luxurious and shiny the foil is, but it looks really festive.

I lined the printed and foiled card up on my Cougar and cut the doors.

I arranged the Jolly Bingo Bits and printed and foiled them to make the base layer, then fixed it to the back of the front section.

Here are the first two doors open.

Happy Advent everyone x

I'd like to enter this to the following challenges:

My Mum's Craft Shop - Winter/ Christmas

Paula Holifield Challenges - Christmas Cheer

Love to Create - Holiday Gift/ 3D Project

Craft Creations - Anything Goes

Craft Spot by Kimberley - Sparkle and Shine

ABC Challenges - Almost Christmas

Sketchy Colours - Red & Green

Crafty Hands - Sparkle and Bling

Jellypark - Christmas

Kenny K Christmas at Through the Purple Haze Challenges

I had a treat this week - the chance to play with the foxy Mrs Claus from Kenny K for the new challenge at Through the Purple Haze Challenges . The challenge is to use a recipe - 1 digi, 2 papers and 3 embellishments.

I used 2 papers from the Dear Santa Digikit from DaisyTrail and mounted them on gold and red metallic card. 

The three embellishments I added were the bell, the ribbon and the bow with a good girl accent in the middle which I made using part of an embellishment from the Dear Santa kit cut into a circle and mounted to the back of an epoxy dome sticker.

I sneakly added a full version of the 'Good Girl Santa's List Approved' embellishment on the inside of the card, again mounted behind an epoxy dome sticker.

Mrs Claus was a joy to colour

Promarkers used:

Skin - Coral, Sunkissed Pink, Blush with Pastel Pink Cheeks

Hair - Cocoa, Henna, Chestnut, Walnut

Dress and Hat - Red, Berry Red, Cardinal Red, Burgundy

Holly - Holly

Belt - Ice Grey 4 & 5

Santa Sack - Tan, Caramel

Eyeshadow, Bells, Belt Buckle - Gold Pilot Gel Pen 

I really hope you like my creation & look forward to seeing your entries at Through the Purple Haze Challenges

I'd like to enter this to the following challenges:

My Mum's Craft Shop - Winter/ Christmas

Craft Creations - Anything Goes

Sketchy Colours - Red & Green

Jellypark - Christmas

Real or Faux Stitching - explorations of my new sewing machine

The challenge at Digi Galore this fortnight is to use Real or Faux Stitching. It came at the right time for me as I've been saving like mad and have ordered a new sewing machine. I'm loving the quilting course that I'm doing so decided to pool all my birthday and Christmas money and buy a nice machine. It arrived yesterday so I had a chance to play for this project.

Our wonderful sponsor is Delicious Doodles  and I contacted Teri to check my idea fell within her terms of use as I wanted to make something in fabric rather than card. She said it was fine so off I went. I coloured Angelique with Snowflake with my promarkers, then scanned it in and printed it on T-Shirt Transfer paper for Dark Fabrics. I left plenty of space around the sides and cut the edges using the Memory Box Frosty Snowflake die to add to the snowflake theme. I then applied the transfer paper to navy fabric following the instructions.

I embellished the design using lines of fancy stitches. As you can see I need a bit more practice staying straight, but for the first time of using the machine I think I did ok. It's an amazing machine & I'm really looking forward to getting to grips with it.

Looking forward to seeing your real or faux stitching projects at Digi Galore 

Keep Calm and Craft

We had a really fun image to play with from The Stamping Chef this month - this montage of Keep Calm and Craft. This was a really fun image to colour - well outside my normal comfort zone.

I coloured the image.and then use it in two ways - on a crafting T-Shirt & to update the cover on my crafting notebook.

Here's a couple of closer shots

I asked Tamara's permission before making the T-Shirt as I wanted to check it was ok with her angel policy. I scanned my coloured image and printed it onto T-Shirt Transfer paper designed for dark fabrics. The t-shirt is actually navy blue although it looks more black in the photos. I'm quite pleased with how it turned out although it did loose a lot of the detail in the scan. I love having a personalised t-shirt to wear on crafting adventures.

I used a range of bright colours from my Promarker collection:

Red, Berry Red, Burgundy

Bright Orange, Orange, Burnt Orange

Lemon, Yellow, Gold

Bright Green, Forest Green

Sky Blue, Azure, Royal Blue

Purple, Aubergine

Ice Grey 2, 4.5 and Black

Tan, Caramel

Thanks for the lovely image Tamara x

Simply Betty's Thanksgiving Little Indian

It's Facebook challenge time at Simply Betty and this time it has a Thanksgiving theme. We had a choice of  Pilgrim Corinne or Little Indian Betty. I decided to use Little Indian Betty and after a bit of thought made her her own teepee using the instructions for the Mini Pyramid Card in the Hougie Mini Masterpiece Project Book 

You can see I put the sentiment in the inside and used hook and loop spots to keep the TeePee closed.

The added challenge within the challenge was to use feathers - I used these pheasant feathers which I acquired recently.

I used my Promarkers:

Hair - Black, Umber, Walnut

Skin - Cocoa, Cinnamon, Tan

Eyes & Lips - Henna, Walnut

Dress - Sandstone, Caramel

Berry Red, True Blue

Bow and Arrow - Gold, Amber

I'd love to hear what you think x

Use Pink, Purple or Red

The challenge this week at Through the Purple Haze Challenges is to use Red. Pink or Purple. Challenge??? That's not a challenge! They're among my favourite colours so not a challenge at all to use. Our sponsor this week is Sassy Studio Designs and I had two lovely Sassy ladies to play with.

My first Sassy Lady is Jessica Rabbit Sassy. She struck me as such a strong, powerful woman that I decided to team her with a Tickled Pink Breast Cancer theme. 

The Background paper is a freebie from Link Up for Pink. I changed the writing colour from black to pink.

The Strong Brave and Beautiful Sentiment is a freebie from Gingers House  and I made the other sentiment myself. I cut them out on my Cougar & added a little sparkle with Sakura Tiara gel pens.

The card design is the Stepper Card from the Hougie Mini Masterpiece Project Book made on my trusty Hougie. From the side you can see the shape of it.

I coloured Jessica Rabbit Sassy  with my Promarkers

Skin - Coral, Sunkissed Pink, Blush with Pastel Pink Cheeks

Hair - Cocoa, Henna, Chestnut, Walnut

Dress - Cerise, Shocking Pink*, Maroon

Lips, Eyeshadow & a touch on the Shoes - Pink Sakura Tiara Gel Pen

I'd like to enter this to the following challenges:

Di's Digi Design Challenges - Girly

Suzy Bee's Bloomin Challenge - Shaped Cards

SeemaCrafts - Bright and Colourful November

Crafty Catz - Not a Square

Aud Sentiments Challenge - Feminine

Now as if Jessica Rabbit Sassy wasn't enough I was also lucky enough to have Valentine Honey to play with as well. This time I decided to go with 'Red'

This is another card design from the Hougie Mini Masterpiece Project Book  and one I've not tried before. As with all the Hougie projects it looks complicated but is actually very simple.

The front is a swirly digi paper I have - origin unknown. I mounted a Happy Birthday sticker on a piece of Tim Holtz Fragments and backed it with white and red card. The iridescent ribbon is from my stash and sticks to the back of the card, but is loose along the front so the card can open.

How effective is this fold? So simple yet looks so good!

I coloured Valentine Honey  with my Promarkers:

Skin - Coral, Sunkissed Pink, Blush with Pastel Pink Cheeks

Hair - Tulip Yellow, Sunflower, Gold, Raw Sienna

Lips - Antique Pink

Bikini & Hearts - Red, Cardinal Red. Highlights with white gel pen

I'd like to enter this into these challenges:

Craft-Dee Bo-Z

Paper Creator'S Crafts - Birthdays

Digitally Sweet - Ribbons and or Lace

Polkadoodles - A Shaped Card - No Die Cuts

Crafty Catz - Not a Square - it is, but it isn't :P

I really hope you like my cards. I'm looking forward to seeing your Red, Pink or Purple entries over at Through the Purple Haze Challenges

Fireworks and Bright Colours at Digi Galore

I had a great time with this Challenge at Digi Galore! The theme is Fireworks/ Bright Colours/ Anything goes. As soon as I saw Frizzy Jynx in the Saturated Canary shop I knew she would be perfect! It took a while to make the picture on my head work in real life. but I'm really pleased with how she's turned out.

 I used some spotty patterned paper as a backing & added some Stickles to add to the sparkle. The backing is printed black. Unfortunately it comes out badly in the photo as it's actually a nice deep black not the strangeness that appears on the photo.

I made the sentiment myself in Craft Artist 2 and added a hint of sparkle with my Sakura Tiara pens.

The firework is a Stamp from the Stampin Up set 'New Year's Celebration' which I stamped with white Memento ink.

Here's a close up of Frizzy Jynx. I don't think I've ever used so many colours on one image but she certainly does pop now!

I used my Promarkers:

Hair - 

Tulip Yellow, Sunflower, Gold, Raw Sienna

Red, Berry Red, Cardinal Red

Purple, Aubergine

Grass, Lush Green

Sky Blue, True Blue

The Promarkers on their own weren't giving the 'pop' I was after so I layered them up with extra glitter and sparkle using my Sakura Tiara gel pens & Crystal Stickles glue

Skin - Coral, Sunkissed Pink, Blush with Pastel Pink Cheeks

Top - Royal Blue, Indigo Blue with Berry Red & Cardinal Red Heart

 Ice Greys 1, 2,3 and Silver Gel Pen

Sky Blue

Red, Berry Red

Green, Lush Green

Tights - Orange, Burnt Orange

Socks - Ivory

Boots - Cardinal Red, Burgundy

Told you I used a lot!!!!

Come and show us your Fireworks or Bright Colour creations at Digi Galore - Anything goes and the prize is from the amazing Krista of Saturated Canary

Happy Birthday Betty!!!!

Happy Birthday to You,

Happy Birthday to You,

Happy Birthday Dear Betty,

Happy Birthday to You.

It's Betty' Birthday and the lovely Corinne has organised a huge Birthday blog hop for her. It's a great big long hop as so many people love Betty. You should have started the hop here and come to me from Karen.

The wonderful Tamara from The Stamping Chef created this wonderful Digi just for Betty's Birthday. I decided to make something a bit different so made a banner rather than a card. I used the Haunted Banner from the Silhouette Store

A couple of close ups

And this is the lovely Queen of Halloween

I coloured her with my Promarkers and tried some different colour combinations which I'm actually really happy with.

Skin - Cocoa, Caramel, Satin with Sunkissed Pink Cheeks

Hair - Walnut, Umber, Black

Hat & Skirt - Ice Grey 3, 4, 5, Black

Eyes & Bodice - Lush Green, Pine. I added Green Tiara Sakura pen to the eyes for her shimmery eyeshadow

Shirt & Skirt - Ivory & Satin

Bat & Skull - Silver gel pen

I hope you like her Betty & hope you're enjoying the hop.

Your next stop is Dianna

That Craft Place Challenges - Sentiments

This week I'm lucky enough to be a Guest Design Team Member on the That Craft Place Challenge Blog! The theme is Sentiments and this is the card I created.

I used the Doily Easel Card cut file from Birds Cards to make the base. I added a circle cut from card printed with the butterfly paper printed from the Do Crafts Tulip & Friends CD, and coloured the edges with my Pink Carnation Promarker & then added some Crystal Stickles.

The sentiment is a freebie from Gingers House. I must admit Gingers House is one of my 'Go To' places for sentiments. She has such a range - pretty much something for any occasion. I coloured the sentiment panel with my Pink Carnation Promarker and cut it out on my cutting machine. I added some Stickles on the mat to carry on the sparkly theme.

This cute little pair are called Secrets and come from Saturated Canary. I coloured over the words on the flag, and as they didn't quite fit in the circle without being very squished I cut out a few of the flags and removed them so they had a shorter line. 

I used my Promarkers to colour them:

Girl on the Left:

Skin - Coral, Sunkissed Pink, Blush with pastel pink cheeks

Eyes - Cocoa, Walnut

Hair - Cocoa, Chestnut, Walnut

Dress - Purple, Aubergine

Fuschia Pink

Lilac

Girl on the Right:

Skin - Coral, Sunkissed Pink, Blush with Pastel Pink Cheeks

Eyes - Sky Blue, True Blue

Hair - Tulip Yellow, Sunflower, Gold, Raw Sienna

Dress - Cerise, Shocking Pink*, Maroon

Cans - Ice Grey 3 & 5

Flags - Pink Carnation & Crystal Stickles

I really hope you like it. Pop over to join in the challenge at That Craft Place as there are prizes to be won x