Beautiful Christmas Animals

Hi all.

I am back today with a beautiful image from LOTV, which I just had to but last year because of that cute little reindeer, which just melted my heart!

Personally, I find that the tiny detail in the LOTV stamps is hard for me to colour with my alcohol markers, so I waded in with my Zig pens for a softer look.

I have teamed up the image with a Nitwits digital paper and made the card base from some of my large and small nestie dies so this came out at about 7 inches square in the end.

Finally I finished off with one of my oldest holly dies which I still love to this day as it is so delicate. I got rid of the packaging long ago, but I am fairly sure this was a Marianne die.

Anyway, hope you like my little card for today. Thanks for stopping by.

Sharon x

Challenges:
http://asyoulikeitchallenge.blogspot.com/2018/12/favourite-christmas-animal-and-why.html
http://craftyfriendschallengeblog.blogspot.com/2018/12/challenge-98-and-winner-of-challenge-97.html
https://digichoosday.blogspot.com/2018/11/wk-47-anything-goes-challenge-digi.html
http://lilpatchofcraftyfriends.blogspot.com/2018/12/challenge-95.html
https://craftingfromtheheartchallengeblog.blogspot.com/2018/12/challenge-231.html
https://creataliciouschallenges.blogspot.com/2018/11/challenge-152-anything-goes-with.html
http://craftyhazelnutspatternedpaper.blogspot.com/2018/12/craftyhazelnuts-patterned-paper.html

An old favouriteChristmas Penguins

Well it has been quite some time since I posted on my blog, but I thought it was time to post a Christmas card now that we are in December.

I LOVE penguins so this old favourite from Sugar Nellie seemed like the perfect picture to post, especially as penguins seem to be so on trend again this year.

Who could resist these two little cuties? I used my colourblend pencils and blending stumps to colour them in so that I could get a soft effect but with a little more control than water colours. Then it was time to dig in to my stash for some of my other favourite brands:

• Digi backing paper form Nitwits
• Border die and card shape die from Tonic
• Holly dies from Tattered Lace
• And not forgetting a little bit of Stickles glitter.

Typically this card ended up just a little too big for a 6x6 envelope so in the end a little bit of creative envelope making was required too!

Thanks for stopping by today - I hope these cuties have put a little smile on your face.  :-)

Sharon

Challenges:

http://cinspirations.blogspot.com/

https://carabbiemomentsofcraft.blogspot.com/2018/12/challenge-158.html

https://digichoosday.blogspot.com/2018/12/wk-49-digi-choosday-anything-goes.html

http://craftyfriendschallengeblog.blogspot.com/2018/12/challenge-98-and-winner-of-challenge-97.html

http://lilpatchofcraftyfriends.blogspot.com/2018/12/challenge-95.html

Sunset in the Forest

It's been quite some time since I posted, so I thought I would drop by today with a Forest Sunset scene made using a fabulous Sheena Douglass Sketchy Stamp which was releases earlier this year.

This scene is remarkably simple to colour in as all of the black detail is part of the stamp which leaves you free to play with colour washes etc without having to worry about colouring any detail.

I used my Aquapens to create a lovely sunset, and then used the same pens and glycerine to sponge and blend a matching background paper.

I really like how this came out and think this card would work well for a man. Also, This could easlity be adapted to a frosty winter scene - great for Christmas time.  :-)

Thanks for stopping by today.

Sharon x

Challenges:
http://cardz4guyz.blogspot.com/2018/10/challenge-206-into-woods.html
http://addicted-to-stamps-challenge.blogspot.com/2018/10/challenge-167.html
https://craftingfromtheheartchallengeblog.blogspot.com/2018/10/challenge-225.html
http://craftycatzweeklychallenge.blogspot.com/2018/10/434-crafty-catz-anything-goes-with.html
http://lilpatchofcraftyfriends.blogspot.com/2018/10/challenge-92.html

Stacey Barras new launch coming up on Monday.

Hi everyone. I just wanted to let you know that Sheena will be back on Hochanda at 6pm and 8pm on Monday with the latest set of stamps by Stacey Barras.

It's another gorgeous set of florals os, if you have loved Stacey's stamps before you are sure to love these too.

There's lots of variety to be had in terms of colouring mediums on the shows as well, including Aqua Pens, Aqua Blend pencils and the highly sought after Starlight paints.

So all of that is sure to make for some interesting shows!

For my first sneaky peak sample I have gone for a monochrome look.

I have used aqua pens and blend the backing paper, and a darker pen applied directly to the little flower stamp to make the pattern.

Moving on to the focal image I have used my Aqua Blend Pencils in 3 shades of blue to get some variation.

I hope you like what you see so far. For more lovely sneak peaks, don't forget to head over to Sheena's Inkettes over on Facebook.

Bye for now.

Sharon x

Vintage Music

Hi there. I am back today with a card I made using one of Donna Ratcliffe's music themed stamps which were released by Crafters Companion earlier this year.

For this card I have coloured everything, including the patterned paper, with my Aqua Pens.

The main image was coloured using the pens, a paint brush and water, whilst the coordinating paper was created by colouring the pen on to a glass mat, stamping a round blending pad in to it, and the rubbing it on to the card. I was really quite pleased with the effect which coordinates perfectly with my colouring.

The border was completed in the same way, but using a dotty stamp.

So today i would like to enter the following challenges:

http://craftyfriendschallengeblog.blogspot.com/2018/08/challenge-91-and-winners-ch-90.html
http://allsortschallenge.blogspot.com/2018/08/week-482-music.html
https://creataliciouschallenges.blogspot.com/2018/08/winner-top-3-challenge-140.html

Thanks for visiting today and, if you are in the UK, have a great Bank Holiday weekend.

Sharon x

Wizardy Little Magic Dude

It's time. for another challenge with Colour Crazy today and today we are sponsored by Polkadoodles.

We're all using the Little Dudes Range and I chose Wizardy Little Magic Dude who reminds me of a certain person from a certain film!

I coloured him with Spectrum Noirs and smudged some distress ink in to the background to create a bit of a smokey scene.

Finally I got out my Arteza fine lines for the delicate details such as the all important wand and glasses.

I hope you like my card today. Hop over to Polkadoodles to check out the other Dudes (I think there are 12 and I have them all!) and don't forget to share your colouring at Colour Crazy this week.

Bye for now.

Sharon x

Cute Card Thursday - Just for Girls

Hi there.

I'm back today with a great new challenge from Cute Card Thursday, where the theme is Just for Girls, and we are sponsored by Kinda Cute.

For my card today, i have dug in to my old stash and come across this lovely Tatty Twinkles stamps from Tattered Lace.

I thought she needed some extra butterflies in her life, so, after colouring her with my Spectrum Noir pens, I added some more fluttering friends using a pop out die from Stamps by Chloe.


So there we have it - my little cutie, especially for girls.

I hope you can pop over to Cute Card Thursday and join in with the fun!

Sharon x

The fairies that live in the forest.

Hi there. I thought I would share a card that I made a long time ago, back when I was on the Spectrum Noir DT.

At the time the new Morgan Fitsimmons CD has been released by Crafters Companion, and it contained a whole host of beautiful images, along with lots of lovely backing paper.

This is one of the fairy images which I coloured with my Spectrum Noir pens, and I can remember I loved every minute of it.

These days, now that I have spread my own wings a bit, I think I would print this on to water colour card and give it a go with Spectrum Aquas, Sparkles or even good old regular  water colour paints.

Anyhow, I thought it was worth a share as these images are really quite special!

Thanks for visiting today.

Sharon x

Challenges:
https://creataliciouschallenges.blogspot.com/2018/08/challenge-145-anything-goes-with.html
http://lilpatchofcraftyfriends.blogspot.com/2018/08/challenge-88.html
http://craftyhazelnutspatternedpaper.blogspot.com/2018/08/craftyhazelnuts-patterned-paper-august.html

Die Cutting Essentials - Issue 41 - August 16th

Whahoooo! I was lucky enough to be asked to contribute to the Die Cutting Essentials Magazine, which came out on 16th August!

That means I can now share may makes so here they are.

I was asked to use the new Gemini Edger dies and stamps from Crafters Companion and I had great fun making lots of different styles of cards with them.

They seem to work especially well with the glycerine blending techniques that we all know and love.

Hope you like my cards, and enjoy the magazine if you buy it!

Thanks for looking.

Sharon x

Colour Crazy Sponsored by Polkadoodles

Hi there, I'm back with the latest Colour Crazy Challenge which is sponsored by Polkadoodles.

I have gone with a digital image from the recently reduced Little Dudes, and I have plumped for Cool Dude this time as I thought he would make a great card for a teenager.

Amazingly all the papers that you see and the sentiment all come as part of the set, so it was really easy to put this card together, and doing a little bit of colouring with water colour pencils.

Thanks so much for visiting today.

Sharon x

Sheena anenome - Zig pens and white emboss - Anniversary card

Did you catch Sheena's shows recently, where she brought back her lovely 'In Full Bloom' perfect partners?

How lovely to see them again, for more inspiration - and a lovely new colouring medium in the form of Startlight paints and waxes too......those are definitely on my crafty wish list!!

Here's a card I made (not for the show this time) using the lovely anemone  and aqua pens.

I stamped and embossed the image in white, which not only makes a great effect but, also makes it really easy to colour the image as you can't go outside of the lines.

I think it is one of my favourite techniques for water colour application.

The fabulous large sentiment comes with the daisies set from this release, and as you can see the sentiments are all interchangeable with the various images.

Can you see the little sparkly bits? They are tiny little pearl sequins from Tonic Nuvo and I totally love them. They are like mother of pearl and they have no holes in them - the are perfect for sprinkling and for shaker cards too. I will be devastated when I use my pot up...but luckily for me, there are literaly thousands of them in there, so thy will last me a while!!

Thanks for stopping by today.

Sharon x

Colorista note pad

A quick post today showing a note pad that I made with a Colourista note pad and the Colourista pencils.

I have to say, if I were to do this again, I would use wax pencils so I could emulsify and blend better - we live and learn!!

Sharon x

All Dressed Up New Home Heart card

I am back today with a clean and simple card,made with a lovely Digistamp from All Dressed Up, which I just couldn't resist.

I just loved this delicate little image, but even when printed for a 6 x 6 card, the detail proved to be too fine for my pens, so I decided to colour with pencils instead.

I loved the nice soft result that I got with this medium and I finished off by edging the card with some distress ink and then added texture with my ever faithful dotty stamp.

Thanks for visiting.

Sharon x

Crochet Robot

Hi. I'm back today with another crochet toy - this time a robot.

As you can see, all my crochet creations end up sitting on the same chair for their photo opportunity!!

Thanks for looking!

Sharon x

No stamping today.

As you may be able to tell, I have been raiding my blogger archive these last few days, and I came across this little beauty, from my Amigurumi crochet phase, where I made loads of toys for all the little people in my life.

This is a gorgeous bear that I made for one of my great nephews.

I had many happy hours creating him.

And in the end it was very tough to let him go!

Perhaps I will have to make another one some day.  :-)

Bye for now.

Sharon x

Another box of cards

I'm back today with another box of cards made a while back - for a friend.

I used the Frou Frou CD Rom for this one and really went to town on it with quite a 'posh' box.

This one took a little longer to make and I filled it with cards and tags.

But once again, everything was made from printed elements on the CD, with the odd bit of ribbon here and there.

I just love the colour theme on this CD. :-)

A gift for a friend

Sometimes you just want to make a nice gift for a friend - something that is not too expensive, but different from anything else that she might receive........

Well that was the case here, and I didn't have much time, so I was able to whip up a little box of notelets using my Crafters Companion Cattitudes CD. My friend is a lover of Cats.....and Shopping....so it is as if these designs were made for her!

I made everything from the toppers, papers or card companions from the CD Rom , including the box which I made by printing one of the design papers direct on to card.

I had forgotten that I had done this, as it was a while back, but it was a relaxing departure from colouring. I really must do it again some time!

Thanks for stopping by.

Sharon x

When life gives you lemons......

Do you remember this release from Sheena Douglass back in the Spring?

They were really popular when they came out, and looking at this card I couldn't help but think of that phrase - 'When Life gives you lemons......make lemonade!'

I really enjoyed making this card using sparkle pens as it was something quite different for me, in terms of  image, and that was half of the fun of it.

I love the background as it looks like pencil sketches rather than a stamp and it is so easy to achieve by simply using a Smokey Grey Versafine pad instead of the usual black.

Anyway, I hope the only lemons in your life right now are the edible ones!

Thanks for stopping by.

Sharon x

Challenges:
http://lilpatchofcraftyfriends.blogspot.com/2018/07/challenge-86.html
https://craftingfromtheheartchallengeblog.blogspot.com/2018/07/challenge-215.html
https://crafting-with-friends.blogspot.com/2018/07/challenge-71.html
http://craftycatzweeklychallenge.blogspot.com/2018/07/craftycatz-challenge-425-atg.html
http://craftyfriendschallengeblog.blogspot.com/2018/07/challenge-88-and-winners-of-challenge-87.html

Creatures of the night

It's been a long time since I've posted one again, so i thought I would post one of my DT makes from Donna Ratcliffe's last release at Crafters Companion, featuring the  lovely silhouettes that we all love.

I made this one using the good old sparkle pen and glycerine technique for the background and painted direct with a wide brush for the main image.

One of my favourite stamps in the fern leaves which are brilliant for building up backgrounds and very easy to paint too.

Thanks for visiting today and enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Sharon x

Challenges:

http://lilpatchofcraftyfriends.blogspot.com/2018/07/challenge-86.html
https://creataliciouschallenges.blogspot.com/2018/07/challenge-143-anything-goes-with.html
http://craftycatzweeklychallenge.blogspot.com/2018/07/craftycatz-challenge-425-atg.html

Colour Crazy Challenge with Bugaboo

Hi all. We have a new challenge at Colour Crazy this week, where we are sponsored by the fabulous Bugaboo. I really love their comical images, and it was so hard to chose which one to play with from my big collection. In the and I went for this Bugaboo Cats Topper, just because I love their faces.

I have coloured them all in with Spectrum Noirs and then used some gorgeous NitWits digital papers to match.

I hope you like my card today and thanks so much for visiting.

Sharon x

Sheena's latest release - A little bit festive

 It's time for Sheena Douglass' brand new release today on Hochanda as the One Day Special.

 Here are my samples which you will see on the show.

 I have left the glycerine in the hands of the other girls this time around and for the most part I have gone for a very CAS look, aiming for that sketchy theme.

 I've also mixed and matched with some of my existing dies, to make a lovely easel card.

 Also - remember Nordic Christmas from last year? I have used one of the A4 embossing folders on Centura Pearl to create a lovely background for my church.

So don't forget to tune in to Hochanda from 6pm!

Sharon x

Cute Card Thursday - Sun, Sea or Sand

Hi there - it's time for a new challenge at Cute Card Thursday, where the theme is Sun, Sea or Sand. As you can see, I have chosen the Sea, using this fabulous Mermaid set from MFT.

I have thrown in a lot of techniques on this card.....some alcohol marker colouring, some dry embossing, a blended background and some glitter and sparkle for good measure, but hopefully it has all come together nicely!

I have to admit, as much as I love the mermaid, I think I like the little fish and the turtle even more.....it is often the little things that please me!

I hope you have enjoyed my card today and that you will come and visit at Cute Card Thursday.

Sharon x