28 July 2017

It's a Hippo, Hippo shake!

It's time for another of my Artistic Expression features over on the MFT Blog and I had a lot of fun making another shaker card..........


For more information please hop on over to the My Favorite Things Blog.

Thanks for visiting my blog today

27 July 2017

MFT Colour Challenge No 74

It's time for another Colour Challenge over at My Favorite Things!

I chose to use "You Have My Heart" - just look at that well behaved little pooch, maybe he could teach my Westie a thing or two.


The rules are pretty simple, just incorporate colours inspired by the ones listed below in your project.......


 and you could be the lucky winner of
$50 Gift Voucher
to MFTstamps.com


I am still practicing for the October classes and as you can see I had a little fun adding pleats and patterns to the girl's dress.  Have you spotted the other change.......no not the eyes.......I swapped out the heart she is holding on the stamp for a bone.  Hence the dog's tongue is sticking out, he's drooling in anticipation of being given his treat!

With just a little imagination you too can personalise your images - the tiny flowers on her top are really simple to do.  I coloured the dress as normal, then used the colourless blender marker to add tiny little dots in the shape of little flowers........see I did say it was really easy!

For anyone who wants to colour along here are the Copic colours:


So why not have a go......I so look forward to seeing your wonderful creations

Please post your entries HERE

19 July 2017

Anyone for a colouring challenge?

Hi there, I've been colouring another face......this girl is having so much fun right now!

Anyway, it's time for the 
My Favorite Things Weekly Sketch Challenge
WSC342


I chose Super Boy to help me play along with this sketch.....


But I wanted to keep on experimenting with new techniques (well, new to me!) so I inked the sky and grass area with Tumbled Glass, Scattered Straw and Old Paper Distress ink.  Then I drew in the steps by hand and coloured them with Copic.

Superboy himself was stamped on Copic card with, shock horror MFT Licorice Black Hybrid ink....yes, I know - black!!  I then fussy cut him and mounted him on the finished card with foam tape.


Oops, nearly forgot, the top area was cut with Stitched Basic Edges 2 Die-namics after I'd inked it and then stamped with a sentiment from Essential Sentiments set.  Finally I mounted it on foam and adhered it to the card....ta da!

As always, if you'd like to play along.......or just practice for the class in October, then here is the Copic list:


Thanks for dropping by and if you've never tried the challenge before, I highly recommend you give it a go........I had such fun with this one.

Happy Colouring
SUPPLIES:
MFT Premium Dye ink - Blueberry
Distress Ink - Tumbled Glass, Scattered Straw, Old Paper
Copics (listed above)

13 July 2017

Snow in July - you must be joking!

Hello there, what are you up to?

Me, I am trying to work out the basics of my Copic Class so I am busy practicing colouring faces, hair etc in between DT projects.

Here is the latest one using Birdie Brown - Warmest Wishes.


I am also stretching myself artistically by experimenting with inks as well as my trusty Copics.......yes, I know, I'm a bit behind the times, but hey, I've spent the last 7 years teaching myself Copics!!

Anyway, I blended Tumbled Glass, Broken China and Faded Jeans on to a piece of watercolour card - the water splat part wasn't overly successful.........any help/advice would be greatly received 😆

The little Birdie Brown girl was stamped on Copic suitable card with MFT Gravel Grey Hybrid ink, not so pale that it disappears but more subtle than jet black.  I then coloured her with Copics.  On this occasion I was testing out texture techniques......on her hat and the quilting design I added to her coat - what do you think? 

Now, I don't know about you but I couldn't quite work out why she's lifting up her coat so I used my usual quirky imagination and decided to have her playing with falling sparkly snowflakes........I used a white gel pen and some tiny sparkly jewels.

As always here is the Copic list:


Who would like to learn how to colour faces, hair and clothing?  As you may know I am flying across the Atlantic to Florida 14 - 15 October to teach another class at My Favorite Things, Eustis, Florida.

If you would like to join me you can find more information HERE
(please note Saturday's class is SOLD OUT)

Thank you for dropping by

12 July 2017

MFT New Release Day - July 2017

Now, I don't know about you but sometimes when I see a stamp set I immediately have an idea pop in to my head for a card design...........sometimes it works and on other occasions it goes horribly wrong!

But thankfully this time my goofy idea.........well you tell me.......


In my head the little birdie needed help to take off with a cupcake in tow.  He's a smart little chap and tied himself to some helium balloons for extra lift!

Thankfully, with post-it tape and a Misti I was able to remove the top cupcake from the tower on the cake plate and then stamped the single cake underneath the naughty feathered thief, adding a cherry that hopefully looks like it has just fallen off the stolen cupcake in mid flight.

I know that the stamp set is called Happy Hippos, but as we know hippos have rather short legs so the the poor little girl can merely look on helplessly as the pesky burglar floats off with part of her tea!  As with the cake, I masked off most of the hippo so that only the top part of her head peers over the table.



Rather than cheating whilst colouring the balloons I followed a piece of advice that I always give to my Copic students......."Google don't guess".  What do I mean?  Well, I went online for images of real balloons so that I could replicate the shine accurately.


As you can see it has more than one point of shine!  That's something I would have missed had I not researched my subject first and the shadow placement was equally as important to ensure I ended up with realistic looking balloons.

Now, for this particular card none of the sentiments felt appropriate or the right size for the scene I had created.......then I spied the new PI Happy Cake Day stamp and there it was "You Take the Cake" - perfect!!

As always I have created a little cheat sheet for anyone wanting to have a go at replicating this card with all the Copic colours - why not give it a go - I'd especially love to see your balloon colouring - and remember if you have any questions......just ask 😀


The time you have been waiting for has finally arrived......

Have fun shopping and I really look forward to seeing your amazing creations!


SUPPLIES:



9 July 2017

PI Happy Birthday to you - MFT Countdown Day 3

Back again with another cutie, this time from the Pure Innocence range, it's called Happy Birthday to you.


It's almost time for you to go shopping!



No surprises today, totally Copic, but it is the first time I've added eyes to the little Pure Innocence girl, what do you think?  I opted to crop the image for my card - she stands beside a big box on the actual stamp.

I mounted the Stitched Dome Frame with foam pads to give dimension to the card, but other than that I kept it pretty clean and simple.


The sentiment was stamped with Versamark ink and then heat embossed with white embossing powder.


Thanks for visiting today - I will be back on release day with more inspiration from My Favorite Things.
(NB Some of the links to the supplies listed below will not work until release day)


SUPPLIES:
MFT Cardstock - Sweet Tooth, Pink Lemonade

8 July 2017

Handwritten Happiness - MFT Countdown Day 4

Something a little different from me today 


More inspiration from the recent retreat - and shock horror, absolutely no Copics were used in the making of this card!!


Instead I opted for stamps, stencils and inks - and I had such fun pushing myself outside my comfort zone and trying something a little different to the norm!

Oh and confession time - this is my first "shaker card"........I know, how did that happen!

The main background was created using MFT Blue Breeze cardstock and Prestige Dye ink along with the Abstract Stencil.  So, using a Mini Blending tool I added a very subtle pattern to the backing cardstock - I just love that we have card, ink and papers that match - makes the artist in me oh so happy!

Then I used "party" from the Handwritten Happiness stamp set and randomly stamped a pre-cut piece of MFT Blue Yonder card with the aid of my Misti.

With the aid of the oh so cute Happy Birthday Circle Frame and the Circle Shaker Pouch I made my first ever shaker card.........adding a piece of hemp cord to finish it off.

I will be back tomorrow with some Copic colouring, now there's a surprise!
(please don't forget some of the supplies links below will not work until release day)


SUPPLIES:
MFT Cardstock - Blue Breeze, Blue Yonder
MFT Prestige Dye ink - Blue Breeze, Blue Yonder

7 July 2017

Smitten Kitten - MFT Countdown Day 5


It's that time of the month when we start tempting you with some of the stamps that will be available in a few days.....and this adorable little critter is from the Smitten Kitten stamp set.



Now, this is a little different from my usual card making style - having been inspired by my amazing teamies at the recent craft retreat.  So a huge thanks to Karolyn Loncon for the inspiration and guidance to step away from the Copics, enabling me to create a background with blended ink and embossing!


I still used the no-lines technique to colour the little kitten and hearts with Copics and then cut them out with the co-ordinating Die-namics dies, mounting them with foam pads to add dimension.
Finishing it off with one of the sentiments from the stamp set which I stamped with MFT Cement Grey Premium Dye ink.

As always for anyone who'd like to give this a try here is the Copic list:


Thanks for dropping by, I'll be back tomorrow for MFT Countdown Day 4!
(Oh and before I forget, please remember some of the supplies links below will not work until release day)