A bushel and a peck

I received my latest order of stamps from Our Daily Bread Designs last week and this stamp set was amongst them. I really enjoy colouring their images and I think this is going to become one of my favourites :-)



I am entering this card in:
1. Our Daily Bread Designs ODBDSLC180 - Circle or Square it (three or more of a circle or square, not layered) challenge.
2. Word Art Wednesday - Challenge #108 - Anything Goes!
3. Inkspirational - Challenge 44 - Anything Inkspirational Goes
4. Aud Sentiments Challenge Blog - Challenge 94 - Any Sentiment

I also practiced my marblised background technique again that I learnt in Marie Gamber's Background technique class over at Color Me Creative Classroom. You don't get to see too much of the marblised background in this one because I had to crop the image quite close - bit it is there!

Some more pictures of my card:









Copics:  YR0000, YR00, YR02, YR31, Y23, YG0000, YG00, YG01, YG03, YG61, YG63, YG67, B0000, B000, B00, E21, E23, E25, E27, E29, E31, E35, E55, E57, C1, C3, C5, C7, W3, W5 and colourless blender.
Stamps: Our Daily Bread Designs "Apples" and "Vine Background"
Ink: Memento "Tuxedo Black", Distress Ink "Bundled Sage"
Cardstock: X-Press It blending card, DCWV "Textured Neutrals", DCWV "Freshly Picked" (I thought this was appropriate!)
Dies: None
Other: Perfect Medium, Perfect Pearls "Green Patina", Molotow signal white paint pen, brown Beutron craft button, Tim Holtz idea-ology brown paper string, X-Press It double sided tape, X-Press It high tack foam mounting tape and X-Press It clear gel glue.

Updated Wednesday, 4 December 2013
Excited that this card was picked for the Shining the Light Award for the Our Daily Bread Designs ODBDSLC180 challenge. Congratulations to all the winners - see them here.

Sunflowers

I recently bought the Flourishes "Sunflowers" set and enjoyed colouring it in :-)



I am entering this card in:
1. Flourishes Timeless Tuesday 248 - Score it, pierce it, colour it challenge - the scoring is on the left side and top of the green panel, piercing is around the edge of the brown piece (with the faux stitching) and the image is coloured with copics.
2. Inkspirational - Challenge 44 -Anything Inkspirational Goes

Some more photos of my card:








Copics:Y11, Y17, YR04, YR18, E23, E71, E49, E97, E99, E09, R22, R24, R27, YG91, YG93, YG95, YG97, YG99 and colourless blender.
Stamps: Flourishes "Sunflowers"
Ink: Memento "Tuxedo Black, Distress Ink "Walnut Stain"
Cardstock: X-Press It blending card, DCWV "The Blossom Song Stack", Amy Tangerine "Ready Set Go" and Bazzill 12" x 12" textured cardstock
Dies: Spellbinders Nestabilities "Labels Seventeen"
Other: Molotow signal white paint pen, Beutron craft buttons, Crafter's choice orange ribbon, Inkssentials glossy accents, X-Press It double sided tape, X-Press It high tack foam mounting tape and X-Press It clear gel glue.

Shabby Chic Christmas

This isn't my usual "style" of card... but I still thought that I would give it a go...



I am entering this card in the following challenges:
1. Fashionable Stamping Challenges - Shabby Chic Christmas
2. Flourishes Timeless Tuesday #248 - Score it, pierce it, colour it
The scoring is pretty small but I scored two lines on the sentiment piece. The piercing is on the "Ornate square" and I coloured in the Christmas tree with Copic markers.
3. Little Blue Button Stamps - Monthly challenge No. 11 - Christmas Theme

Some more photos of my card:






Materials used:
Copics: BV04, BG78, Y13, G28, G24, 0, R85, G20, B02, R81, Y02, Y17, Y11, R24, B60, BV01, E31, R22, B05, W3, E42, B63 and E33.
Stamps: Flourishes "Trimmer with Love"
Ink: Memento "Tuxedo Black", Distress Ink "Gathered Twigs", "Antique Linen" and "Old Paper"
Cardstock: X-Press It blending paper, Creativ cream card base, KaiserCraft "Turtle Dove" and Quill Metallique - Galaxy
Dies: Spellbinders Shapeabilities "Ornate Squares" and Spellbinders Nestabilities "Gold Labels Four"
Other: Stampendous! Frantage embossing powder "Shabby White", Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist "Vanilla Breeze", Inkssentials Glossy Accents, Ranger Ink Blending Tool, Cut-n-dry foam and small stylus (for scoring).

Update Tuesday, 10 December 2013
Excited to be chosen as one of the Top 3 at Little Blue Button Stamps Blog! Congratulations to the other winners :-)

Mo Manning Christmas

I really like the Mo Manning digi's (from Mo's Digital Pencil) - they are all so gorgeous and I really enjoy colouring them. This one is Little Elf Mim.



I am entering this card in the Little Blue Button Stamps monthly challenge - Christmas is here. 

Some more photos of my card:




Copics: BV00, BV02, R20, R22, R24, R27, R29, R89, Y11, Y15, Y17, G40, G43, G46, BG01, BG11, BG23, BG34, BG49, E00, E11, C1 and colourless blender.
Stamps: Mo Manning "Little Elf Mim" - digital stamp
Ink: HP Officejet Pro 8600 Plus black printer ink, Memento "Tuxedo Black", Distress Ink "Mowed Lawn", "Barn Door" and "Squeezed Lemonade".
Cardstock: X-Press It blending paper, Creativ textured cardstock and Core-dinations core essentials cardstock - darks
Dies: Spellbinders Nestabilities "Curved Rectangles" and Spellbinders Nestabilities "Labels Seventeen"
Other: Craft Concepts embossing folder "More dots", American Crafts premium ribbon - yellow, Cut-n-dry foam, X-Press It clear gel glue, X-Press It double sided tape, X-Press It high tack foam mounting tape.

AnnaBelle Stamps Christmas Card

I discovered AnnaBelle Stamps a while ago now and really enjoy using them but don't enter their challenges enough! So I was determined to enter this one - ac173 It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Although I initially found it rather difficult as I don't have any stamps from their Christmas range... but then I found "Swirl Tree" while flicking through my "stamp folder". I thought that even though it isn't a traditional Christmas tree...it still makes a nice one :-)

Here is the card:




I stamped the swirl tree on plain white cardstock using Distress Markers to "ink" the stamp. I then got my water brush and made it have a little more "watercoloured" look. After I did this, though, I decided that it was a little too washed out and went back over some of the lines using the fine nib of the Distress markers.
I stamped the star and oval hanging ornaments (also from the Swirl Tree set) over the tree. I used cheap post-it notes to mask off my tree so I could stamp the two presents behind it. And then stamped some presents in front of the tree - again, these are all coloured with Distress markers. I diecut the tree and inked the edges.
After I cut my patterned paper to size I used a christmas embossing folder along the bottom and inked the top of the words with distress ink. Inked the edges of the patterned paper and assembled the card, popping the Swirl Tree up on foam tape.
Lastly I added some Liquid pearls to the ornaments on the tree.

Another photo of my card:


Materials used:
Copics: None
Distress Markers: Gathered Twigs, Tea Dye, Mowed Lawn, Shabby Shutters, Mustard Seed, Festive Berries, Worn Lipstick, Chipped Sapphire, Iced Spruce, Picked Raspberry and Spiced Marmalade.
Stamps: AnnaBelle Stamps "Swirl Tree"
Ink: Distress Ink "Mowed Lawn" and "Festive Berries"
Cardstock: KaiserCraft white card base, Quill XL Multiboard - white, KaiserCraft "Mint Twist" patterned paper
Dies: Spellbinders Nestabilities "Lacy Squares"
Other: Liquid Pearls "Daffodil" and "Ruby Red", Spellbinders Embossing Folder "Christmas sentiments" - free with Issue 61 of Australian Simply Cards, cut-n-dry foam and Pentel aquabrush.

Penny Black Christmas

I love this gorgeous little hedgehog by Penny Black. I coloured him with my Prismacolor pencils (first image I've coloured with them so please be nice! :-) )



I'm entering this card in the November Scrapbook Boutique monthly challenge. This was the inspiration:


Some more photos of my card:




Copics: None
Prismacolor: PC912, PC909, PC908, PC928, PC922, PC924, PC927, PC1051, PC1054, PC1056, PC935, PC1023, PC1085 and PC941.
Stamps: Penny Black "A Thorny Affair", Flourishes "Tiny Flowers and Tags"
Ink: Memento "Tuxedo Black", Distress Ink "Mowed Lawn"
Cardstock: Quill XL Multiboard white and KaiserCraft "Mint Twist"
Dies: Sizzix ovals and Cherry Lynn Designs "Tags 1"
Other: Molotow signal white paint pen, red/green/white ribbon from my stash, X-Press It clear gel glue and double sided tape.

Sun Kissed

I really love my copic markers and enjoy colouring in stamps :-) I made this card for the birthday of one of my daughter's friends.

I also made this card to show an example of my copic colouring for Little Blue Button Stamps - they are currently looking for Copic Colouring Artists - see their post here. They also sell their own stamps - see their store here.

Some more pictures of my card:

With the flash to show the vanilla shimmer on the "cloud" paper in the background and the AtYou Spica glitter pens on the girl. Plus the already sparkly patterned paper.

I am entering this card in Creative Creations Challenges #23 Sparkle and Shine.

Copics: Hair - Y38, YR04, YR18, E18; Top - Y11, Y15, Y17, BV00, YR04; Skin - E00, E11, R20, BV00; Pants - B32, B34, B37, B39, BV23; Flowers - R22, R27, YG21, YG23; Sky - B000, 0; Grass - YG21, YG23, YG25, G21, G24, W3, W5.
Stamps: Whimsy Stamps - Elisabeth Bell  "Sun Kissed"
Ink: Memento "Tuxedo Black", Distress Ink "Faded Jeans" and "Chipped Sapphire"
Cardstock: DCWV Sky's the Limit Stack, Creativ Textured, DCWV Textured Brights, Crafter's Choice pastel basics and X-Press It blending card.
Dies: Spellbinders Nestabilities "Gold Labels Four"
Other: Ribbonz 6 mm light gold ribbon, AnnaBelle Stamps 3 mm sprinkles #2 Pineapple, AtYou Spica #00 Clear, #03 Red and #06 Melon, Inkssentials glossy accents, Beutron Craft buttons, X-Press It clear gel glue, X-Press It double sided tape, X-Press It high tack foam mounting tape and Clearsnap Smooch Spritz "Vanilla Shimmer".

Mouse on Daisy

Some other friends of ours recently had a baby girl - adding to the two boys they already have. I was excited to make this card for them:



I also made this card to show an example of my copic colouring for Little Blue Button Stamps - they are currently looking for Copic Colouring Artists - see their post here. They also sell their own stamps - see their store here.

Another photo of my card:


I am entering this card in As You Like It Challenge #15 - Spots or Stripes. I must admit I actually had a hard time choosing, as I like both spots and stripes. But in the end decided that I like spots better and probably use them more often on my cards. I'm not a huge fan of really large spots... but the smaller, more petite ones. I like adding little "spots" (spinkles / pearls / rhinestones) to most of my projects - I think it finishes off the card really nicely. I've incorporated spots into this card on the papers, sprinkles, and the copic colouring of the flowers. I put some copic colourless blender on a microfibre cloth to add "spots" to both the mouse and bird to give them some "texture". I also used AtYou Spica glitter pens to add some more "spots" (with added sparkle) to the flowers on the copic coloured picture.

Copics: Mouse - W1, W3, W5 (and 0 on microfibre cloth), R00, R20, Y11, YG21 and YG23; Bees - Y11, 110 and W1; Ball Flowers - Y11, Y15, Y17; Large Flower - Petals - R81, R83, R85, R89, R00, Centre - Y11, Y15, Y17, E31, E33, BV23; Leaves - YG21, YG23, YG25, BV23, BV00; LadyBug - R22, R24; Grass - YG21, YG23, YG25, G21, G24, BV00; Bird - Y11, Y15, Y17 and 0 on microfibre cloth); Sky - B0000.
Stamps: Tina Wenke "Mouse on Orange Daisy" and Stamp-It sentiment (on inside)
Ink: Memento "Tuxedo Black" and Distress Ink "Picked Raspberry"
Cardstock: A5 Quill XL Multiboard (cream), Creativ mini paper stack (baby girl and party), Crafter's Choice Pastel Basics and X-Press It blending card.
Dies: Spellbinders Nestabilities "Labels Seventeen"
Other: pink ribbon from my stash, A Touch of Class Baby Born decorative ribbon "hush little baby", flowers from my stash (from Kmart), AnnaBelle Stamps 3 mm sprinkles #4 raspberry, X-Press It double sided tape, X-Press It high tack foam mounting tape, Inkssentials glossy accents, AtYou Spica glitter pens #00 clear, #05 Lemon, #06 melon, #11 gold and #14 blossom and Molotow signal white fine paint marker.

Christmas Door

We're more than halfway through November now and Christmas is fast approaching! Time to make some more Christmas cards :-)



I also made this card to show an example of my copic colouring for Little Blue Button Stamps - they are currently looking for Copic Colouring Artists - see their post here. They also sell their own stamps - see their store here.

More pictures of my card:

With the flash on to see the Stickles glitter glue.

I am entering this card in the Our Daily Bread Designs Shining the Light Challenge #179 Holiday.

Copics: Highlights - Y00; Shadows - BV23; Door - E53, E55, E57, E59; Glass on door - C0, C1, C2, C3, B60; Mat - W1, W3, W5; Handle - C1, C4, C7; Leaves - G20, G21, G24, G28, BG78; Ribbon - E40, E42, E43; Berries - R59; Background - B0000, W0 and colourless blender.
Stamps: Our Daily Bread Designs "Christmas Door"
Ink: Memento "Tuxedo Black" and "Rich Cocoa", Distress Ink "Walnut Stain"
Cardstock: Creativ Textured cardstock, X-Press It blending card, Core'dinations neutrals, KaiserCraft "Christmas"
Dies: Spellbinders Nestabilities "Curved Rectangles" and Spellbinders Shapeabilities "Fancy Framed Tags Two"
Other: 12 days of Christmas ribbon (from my stash), Papyrus Organdy ribbon, sandpaper block, Darice embossing folder "wood grain", Stickles "Xmas Red" and "Green", AtYou Spica #00 clear, X-Press It clear gel glue, X-Press It double sided tape and X-Press It high tack foam mounting tape.

Update 26 November 2013:
I am so excited to have been picked as one of the winners for the Our Daily Bread Designs Shining the Light Award for the challenge that I entered this card in.Congratulations to all the other winners :-)

White on white

I've never made a white on white card so I decided to enter the Inkspirational Challenge 43 - Colour - White on White. I like challenges because they usually challenge me to do / use something that I don't normally do / use :-) Here is my card:





Copics: None (this was a shock to the system!)
Stamps: None (so was this!)
Ink: None (and I'm impressed my card actually stayed white on my "ink" coloured desk!)
Cardstock: Bazzill Candy Shoppe heavy weight cardstock - Marshmallow, X-Press It blending card
Dies: Sizzix "Happy Birthday #3", Sizzix + Hero Arts Stamp and Diecut set #657778, Butterfly die (free with Issue #56 of Australian Simply Cards) and Sizzix scallop circle.
Other: Craft Concepts embossing folder "Christmas Vine", A6 embossing folder "Butterfly and flowers" (free with Issue 54 of Australian Simply Cards), AnnaBelle Stamps 3 mm sprinkles "Icicle", Stickles "Star Dust", Inkssentials "glossy accents", X-Press It double sided tape, X-Press It clear gel glue, Uni-trim eyelet lace, Green Tara 12 mm white lace and white tulle.

Christmas Card Class

I had a wonderful time at the Stamper's Den production Christmas card class last night. Met some lovely ladies and enjoyed making some Christmas cards. It was actually the first "physical" card class that I have attended (watched plenty of "video classes" on the internet but never actually left my craft room to attend a class!)

Gina had pre-prepared some example cards and had instructions all ready for us. Everything was supplied with participants just bringing along their basic crafting kit (trimmer, scissors, pencils, ruler, scorer etc.). The class was pretty "full on" (making 6 cards in 2 hours) but I didn't feel rushed :-)

You can find more information on Stampers Den classes on their blog here and a selection of some of the products they have in store here.

These are the cards that I made:

You'll have to excuse my terrible stamping on this one (I'm ashamed)! First time using a stamp positioner tool and I did poorly! (I usually stamp first and then diecut - but these were pre-cut shapes, hence the need to position the stamps correctly. My next attempts were far better.

Successfully used the stamp positioner on this one :-)

I also teach card and Copic classes 
(I am a Copic Certified Designer) 

please visit my Card and Copic classes page here.

Poppy

I've recently signed up for a "background technique" class at Color Me Creative Classroom and the second technique that I have learnt is faux watercolour background. This is the card I made incorporating that technique:

I added Distress Stickles "Dried Marigold" and "Peeled Paint" to the poppy and used a Molotow white paint pen for the "white dots" in the background of the poppy. The flower patterned paper has Distress Stain "Picket Fence" sprayed onto it using a mini mister (after being covered with Distress Stain "Antique Linen".

I am entering this card in Word Art Wednesday Challenge #107 - Anything Goes. They have posted a beautiful verse this week, Psalm 19:1 and I found that I actually had the same verse on a stamp (from Our Daily Bread Designs - Scripture Collection 9).

Some more photos of my card:

Bit hard to see but both patterned papers have been covered with Distress Stain "Antique Linen". Some parts of the words have AtYou Spica #23 Pitch Black added to them for added sparkle.

I covered the paper with Distress Stain "Antique Linen" then splattered some water droplets on the page and dried it with a heat gun. I added some Flourishes "Poppy Patch" stamps to one corner using Distress Ink "Tattered Rose" and "Bundled Sage". I then inked the edges with Distress Ink "Walnut Stain".

Copics: R20, R24, R27, R29, YG91, YG95, YG97, YG99, V95, Y00. Various Ink: colourless blender, R00, G21 and Y00.
Stamps: Flourishes "Poppy Patch" and Our Daily Bread Designs "Scripture Collection 9"
Ink: Memento "Tuxedo Black", Distress Ink "Festive Berries", "Bundled Sage", "Walnut Stain", "Tattered Rose", Distress Stain "Antique Linen" and "Picket Fence".
Cardstock: X-Press It blending card, DCWV Textured Neutrals (olive green card), Crate Paper "DIY Shop" (patterned paper)
Dies: Spellbinders Nestabilities "Gold Labels Four"
Other: AnnaBelle Stamps 3 mm sprinkles #19 Olive, Beutron craft button, Teresa Collins "Tell Your Story" twine, AtYou Spica #23 Pitch Black, Distress Stickles "Dried Marigold" and "Peeled Paint", Inkssentials Glossy Accents, X-Press It clear gel glue, mini mister, cut-n-dry foam, X-Press It double sided tape and X-Press It high tack foam mounting tape.

Christmas is getting closer

It's only 38 days until Christmas! And I've got sooo many more Christmas cards to make! So I thought the sketch challenge over at Our Daily Bread Designs - ODBDSLC178 would be a good opportunity to at least make one more :-)

Here is my card:


And this is the sketch:


Some more photos of my card:

Close-up of the "O Little Town of Bethlehem" stamp in the background

Copics: R20, YR23, YR31, Y11, Y21, Y23, B41, E00, E11, E33, E40, E42, E55, E27, E37, E44, E47, W2, W3 and the colourless blender.
Stamps: Our Daily Bread Designs "The Babe" and "O Little Town of Bethlehem"
Ink: Memento "Rich Cocoa" and Distress Ink "Gathered Twigs" and "Embossing Ink"
Cardstock: Creativ textured cardstock (green), KaiserCraft 140mm x 140mm cream card blank, American Crafts cardstock - Christmas (dark brown), X-Press It blending card
Dies: Spellbinders Nestabilities "Blossoms Three"
Other: cream ribbon (from my stash), Papercraft pearls (coloured with Y23), X-Press It clear gel glue, X-Press It double sided tape high tack, X-Press It high tack foam mounting tape and Inkssentials cut-n-dry foam.

Update 21 November 2013:
Am sooo excited to have been picked as one of the winners for the Our Daily Bread Designs Shining the Light Award for the challenge that I entered this card in. And I also won the random prize draw! Can't wait to order some more of their stamps!

Cupcake Toppers

I was inspired when reading Kathy Jones' post on Copic Oz that I wanted to try my hand at making cupcake toppers for my eldest daughters birthday. Here is what I came up with:

And here's a photo with the candles lit:

I made rainbow swirl cupcakes - vanilla, pink and chocolate colours. For the icing I used white chocolate ganache - but added some red chocolate colouring powder - making it pink. I then dusted some pink rose petal dust over the icing. My daughter helped add little butterflies and pink sprinkles.

For the cupcake toppers I cut some card to 5 cm x 12" (sorry - I use both centimetres and inches for measuring - whichever one suits me at the time!) - for the large one (I had to join two pieces together) and the small ones are 2.5 cm x 12" (one piece each). I scored the large one using my Scor-Pal at every 1/2 inch. The small ones I scored at every 3/8 of an inch. Then folded and glued them together. It is best to make these in advance because they take a while to dry (although I suppose that depends on the glue that you use). For the sticks I just cut up some wooden kebab sticks to the sizes that I wanted and glued them on the back.

Materials used:
Copics: Castle - RV00, RV02, RV04, RV06, RV09, B02, YG21, YG23, YG25, E55, E57, E59 and BG78. For the flowers - V01, V04, V06, V09, YR04, Y17; Y13, YR04, Y17; BG45, BG49; YR00, YR02; B02, B05; V000, V01, V04, YG00, YG01, YG03; E43, E44, E47 and E49.
Stamps: Hero Arts "Let's Chill" and Our Daily Bread Design "Special Girl".
Ink: Memento "Tuxedo Black"
Cardstock: Creativ Textured and X-Press It blending card
Dies: Spellbinders Shapeabilities "Fancy Framed Tags Two" and Sizzix "Circle framelits"
Other: Clearsnap Smooch Spritz vanilla shimmer, X-Press It clear gel glue, Stickles "Glam Pink", "Tropical Tangerine", "Turquoise", "Waterfall", "Firefly", "Orange Peel", "Cinnamon", "Yellow" and Distress Stickles "Brushed Corduroy".