Add a Number with Art By Miran

It's challenge time at Through the Purple Haze Challenges and this time the theme is Add a Number and we're sponsored by Art by MiRan. I decided to be super organised and make my nephew's birthday card. I'm amazed at myself as his birthday isn't until the summer! Dino Danny is just perfect for an adventurous 2 year old. I went overboard on the Add  Number theme and made the whole card a number shape.

The papers and tag shapes are from the Carta Bella Boy Oh Boy set. I've used the digi version and added my own words to make it personalised.  I added Glossy Accents to the tags & some of the dots on the paper.

Here's a close up of  Dino Danny

I loved colouring him! I used my Copics

Skin - E000, E00, E21, E11, E04 with R20 Cheeks

Hair - E53, E55, E57, E59

Eyes - B12, B14, B18

Suit - G05, B05, B37, B99 & Blender

Horns - Y11, Y15, Y06, Y35

Creative Expressions Stamps

The lovely Lisa Horton is on Hochanda again this evening showing some of her news designs in Creative Expressions stamps & mdf. I was lucky enough to have a chance to play with the stamps. I love love love these designs. They're so versatile - you can do the obvious with them, but also think outside the box and use them for all sorts of cards.

Here's the selection I made. Clean and Simple and effective.

These are using the Creative Expressions In the Garden set.

These are using the Creative Expressions Bee Happy set

I few cheeky foam pads in there to add dimension to some of the hexagons.

I added some foam pads to give the frame dimension & added some Wink of Stella to the Bee, his trail & the sentiment. 

I hope you watch Lisa's Hochanda show to see what great ideas she comes up with. If you missed it you can watch the shows on Catch Up on their website for the next week. 

One for the boys at KennyK

It's time for a new release at KennyK Stamps  and what a release it is! If you need an image for a classy gentleman in your life you've got them! As always there's a challenge going on for the next 2 weeks over in Club KennyK.

There are three new images - Old Time Bartender, Sophisticated Gentleman & Winery Background. I loved them so much I couldn't resist using all of them.

Firstly here's Old Time Bartender.

I've had that gift card for over a year! Unfortunately it's empty, but I knew it would come in handy for  a card at some point. and this seemed the perfect one! I now just need to wait for the right recipient and I'll add some money to the gift card and there we are  - sorted. 

I just love the expression on his face!

The sentiment from the Fiskars Quotes 'Make a Wish' stamp set. I doodles the border myself (as you can probably tell from how wobbly the line is :P 

Copics used:

Skin - E000, E00, E21, E11, E04 with R20 Cheeks

R35, R37, R39, R59, W7

G17, G29, W7

E17, E19

E23, E25, E27, E29, E49

Now for the other new images - Sophisticated Gentleman & Winery Background. I paired them together as they just work so well together. It took a bit of colouring, but I'm so pleased with how it turned out. 

Here's a close up.

Copics used:

Skin - E000, E00, E21, E11, E04 with R20 Cheeks

Beard - T3, T5, T7, T9

Suit - R37, R39, R59, W7

Bow Tie - C5, C9, 100

Cigar - E25, E27, E29

Glass - YR23, YR27, E37, R32, Blender, BG10, BG11

Chair - N3, N5, N7, N9

Barrels - E53, E55, E57, Y11, Y13, Y15, Y38, E37

Walls - E11, E13, E15, E17, E18

Bottles - G17, G29, W7

PLants - G82, G46, G29, W5, W7

New Buttonbox Fairies at That Craft Place and A Petal Lu Challenge

We'll it's time for me to put on a new hat. That Craft Place Challenges is taking a bit of a holiday but the lovely Lucinda of Petal Lu took us DT girls under her wing and swept us into Petal Lu Challenges. 

For those of you (like me) who are new to Petal Lu they are the creations of the lovely Lu who makes amazing handmade flowers. When I received mine through the post I totally swooned! they're so gorgeous!

That Craft Place are releasing some new Buttonbox Fairy digis today and we were asked to play with them. That's never a hardship as I adore the Buttonbox Fairys.  This new set are as lovely as the others have been.

Using flowers is a new thing for me - you know me - clean and simple is the way I go. I've always struggled with embellishements. I pulled my big girl pants on though and went for it. Only one flower this time - well I've got to start gently eh :P There will be more in the future though I promise as they're lovely.

This little Cutie is Sew Lovely Buttonbox Fairy. Isn't she just adorable! I coloured her with my copics and added Stickles Stardust Glitter glue and a few adhesive pearls to her wings & some glossy accents to the button. The Embossed button cardstock is from That Craft Place.

The sentiment is from the Silhouette store. Don't you love the red flower! It's a Small Original Bloom from the Petal Lu Lucky Dip 

I really hope you like it. I hope you come across and join in at Petal Lu Challenges - the theme is Anything Goes so nice & easy :D

Copics used:

Skin - E000, E00, E21, E11, with R20 Cheeks

Hair - E23, E25, E27, E29, E49

Dress & Cotton - R24, R27, R29, R59, W7

Cotton Spool - E51, E52, E55, E57

Wings - R20, R22, Blender, Stickles Stardust.

M.E./ Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Inspiration with Saturated Canary

As some of you will know I have M.E./ Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. It's a condition I've been battling for over 13 years and it has a huge impact on my life. It's an illness that means the tiny little activities of daily life exhaust me and I have to really pace out everything I do. It's something a lot of people don't understand as I look healthy a lot of the time, but it's caused me to loose a huge amount from my life. If you want to find out more the Action for M.E. website has lots of information - especially the All About M.E. booklet on this page.

 Despite the challenges of M.E I usually stay very positive. This is why I love crafting - it's an activity that's happy to wait for me & is there for me to enjoy on better days - even if it's only for a short time. M.E. can be very isolating and through crafting I've met amazing people and made wonderful friends. 

I will admit I've had a tough winter this year & have found I'm more tired than normal. M.E. gets me down at times, but I try not to let it beat me. As soon as I saw Sleeping Beauty Revised from Saturated Canary I knew I wanted to create something with her. I saw the basis of this quote online and knew it suited me. M.E. is a daily battle, but if I manage to make someone smile, or make someone with health problems realise they can keep going and battle on then it's a day well spent :D

Here's a close up of Sleeping Beauty Revised. I really love her.

I personalised the original quote by adding the M.E. at the beginning. It works on two levels - me being me, and M.E. the illness.

I'm going to frame her and put her on my wall to keep me smiling on hard days. 

I hope she makes you smile - especially if you're having a bad day today.

I coloured her with my Copics

Skin - E000, E00, E21, E11, E04 with R20

Hair - E23, E25, E27, E29, E49

Dress - BG45, BG49, BG09, B97, B99

Cushions:

R24, R27, R29, R59

Y35, Y38, YR24

BV02, BV04, BV08

B95, B97, B99

Mermaid Galene with a Clean & Simple Sketch with Make it Crafty

I love clean and simple cards so decided to use Mermaid Galene from Make it Crafty to make a card using the sketch from the current Make it Crafty Clean and Simple Challenge.

This is the Sketch - clean and simple and I love it.

Here are some close ups.

I added edges using my Copic and added Stickles glitter glue to add some shimmer. The sentiment is from a stamp set I had (make unknown). I colour matched the white organza ribbon by colouring it using my Copic. I've had the pretty waterdroplet like stickers for ages & this is the first project I've had that's perfect to use them on.

 Products Used:

Digi - Mermaid Galene

Sketch - Clean and Simple Challenge

Copics Used:

Skin - E000, E00, E21 ,E11, E04 with R20 Cheeks

Hair - E50, E51, E53, E55, E57

Mermaid's Tail - BG45, BG49, B24, B29, Blender

Harp - Y11, Y15, Y17, Y28, E57

Sakura Stardust Gel Pen, Wink of Stella

Skies with Make it Crafty

It's time for a new challenge at Make it Colourful and this time the them is Skies. This is inspired by Zoe's amazing new Ebook - Fun Techniques for Colouring Skies. Have you seen it yet? If not pop over and have a look. It really is an amazing set of tutorials & comes with a collection of digi stamps included so you can join in the tutorials.

I've never attempted to colour a sunset sky before, but with Zoe's tutorial I felt brave enough to do it. Here's what I created with the Australian Outback Farm Road digi.

I was inspired by this photo that my friend Gemma took a month or so ago out of her window. My cards is a little closer in colour to the photo in real life, but comes out slightly bluer in pics. I this this sky is so beautiful.

Gemma's Instagram

Here's a few close ups.

I really love the combination of colours in this. I just wish I could capture it on camera as it in in real life. I've used tips from the Fun Techniques for Colouring Skies to create the shading and the clouds.

You can see I've added a few dark blue hightlights to the black ground to add interest.

I coloured the scene with my Copics:

Sky - B24, B32, BV02, BV04, V12, V17, R32, RV34, RV04

Australian Outback Farm Road  is coloured with W5, W7, W9, 100 with B69 Highlights

Dream Chipboard  is from the Doodle Dream Word Chipboard set from Make it Crafty.

I really hope you think I did the theme justice and I hope you come over and join in. Don't forget to look at the Fun Techniques for Colouring Skies Ebook - it really is amazing.

Inky Fun with KennyK & Make it Crafty

I had such fun with this card combining elements from two of my favourite artists. Da Bomb is the new freebie for members of Club KennyK (have you joined yet? if not why not????). I've combined her with a background made with Dylusions Sprays and the funky Grunge Word Chipboard from Make it Crafty. Fun or what!

This is the Grunge Word Chipboard from Make it Crafty. I coloured it with my Prismacolor pencils. The pencil colour sits on the top of the greyboard rather than sinking in as ink does so it's lovely & vibrant.

Here's Da Bomb. She's so sassy & fun - I love her!

I coloured her with my Copics

Skin - E000, E00, E21, E11, E04 with R20 Cheeks

Hair - 100, C9, C7, C5, R27, R29, R59

Top - R27, R29, R59

Trousers - G94, G99, W7

Shoes - C7, C9, 100, Y15, YR16, R27, R29, R59

I really hope you like her and it makes you smile.