Fins, Feathers or Fur

Three 'F's - Fins, Feathers or Fur - but which to choose?

Originally Feathers was going to be it, 

however, when the going got tough, the scales won the race!

This week's sponsor at Wicked Wednesday is 

Miss Rach 

This little water baby was coloured with Prismacolour pencils which allow the colours to blend nicely.  Some blue dots of Liquid Pearls on his fin and his antenna add a bit of contrast.  His eye is highlighted with Glossy Accents.

The background paper is from Kaisercraft 'Shells'.

The reeds are stamped with 'jet black' Archival Ink and coloured with Silks 'Pretty Peridot' paint which adds a touch of shimmer.

This panel is matted onto a base card which has also had Silks 'Bolivian Blue' paint added around the edges
- love the look and touch of these paints!

Please come and join in the fun at Wicked Wednesday ATC Challenge this week

where the theme is 'Fins, Feathers & Fur'

Happy Crafting!

Sending Love

Have you ever noticed how things go in threes?

This week, I've made a baby card, a sympathy card and a 90th Birthday card.

I realise that these particular cards have little in common, 

except that I rarely make cards for these events.

I will start off with the Sympathy Card

which was made for our elderly neighbour who passed away during the week.

I inked up the flower stem with Distress Markers, huffed and stamped directly onto the cardstock. The sentiment was inked with 'watering can' Archival Ink as was the inside sentiment.

A length of thread was wrapped around the top layer just under the images and secured on the back.  A small knot finishes it off nicely.
The top layer was then adhered to the card.

Stamps

Stampin' Up! - Love & Sympathy

Cardstock

Stampin' Up! - Confetti White

Challenges

Simply Less is More - #295 Recipe 'Add Thread'

It's always sad hearing that someone you have known for a number of years has passed away.

Our sympathies and prayers are with his widow and their family.

Happy Crafting!

Mushroom Fairy Pixie

'Add a diecut' is the theme at Wicked Wednesday this week,

and our sponsor is "Lemon Shortbread".

 I have used Prismacolor pencils to colour the image and was really pleased with how well the colours blended, especially on the 'shrooms'.

The die cut is from Memory Box and was also coloured with the same pencils.

I doodled a border to finish off.

If you like creating ATCs, come and join in the fun at Wicked Wednesday.  

You never know, you could be a winner and enjoy a prize from our sponsor!

Happy Crafting!

Plushy and Friend

It's a beautiful spring morning here today,

the sun is shining, and my spring bulbs are blooming.

Ah, I love this time of year!

Yesterday I spent some time at my craft desk catching up with bits and bobs 

but generally having a lovely day.

These two cards are accompanying a couple of ATCs on their journeys to new homes.

I started by first stamping the brick wall and colouring it with various pencils in brown tonings. I cut around the top bricks and attached it to the blue background which is from leftover 12x12 paper.

Whisper and her friend Plushy were stamped in 'jet black' Archival Ink and coloured with Inktense pencils.  These pencils are deliciously bright and it's time that I played with them more often.

The brick/sky background was given a black layer before adhering to white card cut to size.  

Plushy and Whisper were popped onto dimensionals to finish off.

I hope they will be happy in their new homes - who could resist such smiles?

I might just enter this card in this months Craft Stamper challenge .... hmmm?

Challenge

Craft Stamper - Anything Goes

Stamps

Stampotique - Plushy

Stampendous - Whisper Friends SSCP103

Happy Crafting!

I've got a lump in my throat

I have a friend who adores giraffes, 

so with this in mind and having a new set of stamps to work with,  da dah ..........!!!

This is such a fun set of stamps and I just couldn't resist having them in my stash.

His spots are coloured in purple with his body being a lovely yellow with a touch of golden yellow here and there.  I fussy cut him and then looking for a background, I realised one of my gelli plate prints from the week before would work perfectly.

The sentiment is something I dreamed up after searching for a witty giraffe quote and not finding very much that appealed to me.

I added some washi tape to ground him, before popping him on dimensionals.

The gelli print was then adhered to white cardstock, leaving a thin border.

One of the giraffe's friends accompanied him on the journey to his new home, LOL!

Stamps

Katzelkraft - KTZ168

Challenge
Craft Stamper - Anything Goes

Happy Crafting!

Getting Ready for Halloween

"Getting Ready for Halloween" 

is this week's theme at Wicked Wednesday

which is sponsored by MMedel Illustrations.

Pop over and have a look at all the other spooky images and lots more in their shop.

I couldn't resist this cute & spooky little bat.  I coloured him with Distress Inks blending the colours and adding just a touch of extra colour where necessary.

The Tim Holtz background stencil was coloured with the same Distress Inks.

The sentiment was printed, cut out and edged with purple for definition and the cute little bat was popped onto dimensionals.  The ATC was edged with purple to finish off.

Happy Crafting!

I'll buy you the moon

Good morning!

At ATC Around the World, 

the theme is 'Anything Goes' with an optional 'Sun Moon & Stars'

so I thought I'd have a play with one of my new stamp sets.

I started by using Versamark to stamp the background image and sentiment and clear embossed them.  Using 'salty ocean' and 'faded jeans'  Distress Inks, I blended them together, adding extra colour around the edges.  Any extra ink was wiped off the embossed areas with a tissue.  I then gave the background a quick spritz of water and then dabbed it dry.

I stamped Zinouk on scrap card, coloured him/her with metallic pencils and fussy cut the image.  I then stamped him/her again directly onto the ATC and glued the coloured image on top.

I realise there is no 'sun' on my ATC but hopefully it still fits into this weeks theme.
The sentiment reads "Draw me your dream, I'll buy you the moon"

Challenge

ATC Around the World -  #21 Anything Goes with optional 'sun, moon & stars'

Stamps

Carabelle Studios - Stars Zinouk

Happy Crafting!

Circus Procession

Following on from yesterday's playtime .....

.... the challenge at Sunday Postcard this week is Circus, 

so I rummaged around in my paper stash and found a lovely background with clowns and acrobats.

I cut this down to 6" x 4" (which is the size of the postcard), adhered it to a piece of cardstock and went around the edges blending 'black soot' Distress Ink.  I had already pre-cut the words and the postage stamp at some earlier stage when I first bought the paper, so they made an easy addition to the postcard.  I simply inked around the edges and glued them in place.

I stamped the banner and Ellie in 'watering can' Archival Ink and fussy cut both.  The banner was coloured with Distress Markers while Ellie was coloured with pencil.  Glitter pens were added on her hat, trunk and toenails.  I popped her on dimensionals but before sticking her in place, I added a piece of washi tape to ground her.  Two extra snippets of tape helped to balance the scene.

Challenge

Sunday Postcard Art - Circus

Stamps

Stampotique - Ellie

Cre8tiv - Border Icons

Paper

Graphic 45 - Le Cirque

Happy Crafting!

Blossoms

I'm on a roll this morning, playing along with various challenges, 

so I'll start with the first one I tackled.

Over at 'Simply Less is More', the theme this week is

'One Layer - Your favourite flower'

I had a look at a couple of different flower stamps and decided I'd go with some blossoms, especially as it is blossom time here as we go into spring.

I decided that ivory cardstock would work very nicely for these flowers as they are quite soft looking.   I coloured the stems and flowers with Distress Markers, did a bit of huffing & puffing and firmly stamped directly onto the cardstock.   Again using a Distress Marker, I added a sentiment.

I felt the card was lacking something, so I drew a border using the fine tip of the Distess Marker, which I feel finishes it off perfectly.

Challenges

Simply Less is More - One Layer 'Your Favourite Flower'

Craft Stamper - Anything Goes

Stamps

Graphic 45 - Birdsong

Stampendous - Life Words SSC1213

Happy Crafting!

Mr Stripes

Just a quick one today .....

at Stampotique this week, the theme is 'Mail Art', 

so as I was making a couple of ATCs for a swap, 

I decided to make a couple of envelopes as well.

[front of envelope #1]

[back of envelope #1]

I changed colours for the second envelope although the overall design remained the same.

[front of envelope #2]

[back of envelope #2]

I wonder where the final destination for these two envelopes will be?

Challenge

Stampotique Designers Challenge - #256 Mail Art

Stamps

Stampotique - Mr Stripes

Stampotique - Bla Bla Bla

Happy Crafting!

Thoughtful Faery

Good morning!

This week at Wicked Wednesday, the theme is 

"Fall Colours"

which is sponsored by Alicia Bel

This is 'Thoughtful Faery' and she is coloured with Prismacolor pencils with clear Wink of Stella shimmer on her wings.

You may have guessed that I like layering and this faery is perfect for doing so.

The background paper is a snippet from Graphic 45.

I thought I'd also enter this at:

Challenge
Pixies Crafty Workshop - Snippets Playground #245

Happy Crafting!

Gelli Prints

After watching a youtube video (thank you, Corrie) on creating backgrounds using a gelli plate, this afternoon I decided I'd have a bit of a play.  I can't remember how long ago I bought this, and even worse, I can't remember if I even opened it to play.  If I did, I did a really good job of cleaning it as it looked perfect!

Some of the tags were plain, others already had a bit of a background, however that just adds to the layers.

These are smaller tags along with a couple of ATCs.

These are A5 pieces of cardstock, except for the middle one which is a piece of spotty paper which already had some inks on it, but now has even more texture.  The card on the right has already been used as a background for a birthday card.  I'll be back to show the finished card once I know the recipient has received it.

So, apart from a rather dapper chap who was sitting on the fence outside my craftroom window this afternoon, I'll say goodnight.

Happy Crafting!

Unique Pets

Have you ever thought you'd like a unicorn as a pet?

This week's challenge at Wicked Wednesday is 

'Unique Pets' 

which is sponsored by Ppinky Dolls

I coloured her with Prismacolor pencils, apart from her hair and the mane & tail of the unicorn.  They are coloured with a pencil I picked up in a gift store that has 4 different colours in one lead, so as you turn the pencil slightly, you get a different colour.  

The background paper is from Julie Nutting 'Belle Vie' with a little snippet of washi tape for grounding.  Prior to the background paper being adhered to the ATC, I edged the ATC with 'Pure Sunshine' art alchemy acrylic paint..  The image is fussy cut and popped onto dimensionals.  

Happy Crafting!