30 August 2017

Colouring for fun!

Last week it was my son's 22nd Birthday.........wow, how time flies!

Anyway, I thought I'd share with you all the card I made for him.
This was a Copic/Coloured Pencil combo - I love using both mediums as it gives me the opportunity to get more detail into my images than pure Copic alone.  Just remember to fix your work once completed as you are using pencils on very smooth cardstock and they will have a tendency to smudge - I use Winsor & Newton Professional Fixative, but hairspray will do the job too!

And remember, don't add your pencils until you have finished Copic colouring..........you don't want to clog your Copic nibs with pencil dust!

SUPPLIES:
Stamp - Silly Monsters Rockstars - Your Next Stamp
Ink - MFT Hybrid Gravel Gray
Card - MFT Hot Fudge, Gumdrop Green
Paper - MFT Trail Mix

25 August 2017

MFT ARTISTIC EXPRESSION - AUGUST 2017

Hello there, well today is very special to me as it's my son's 22nd Birthday.......so firstly
HAPPY BIRTHDAY BEN!

OK, now I'll show you a little of what you can find over on the MFT Blog today

 

If you'd like to read how I went from one design to the other then please hop on over to the MFT Blog and read my August Artistic Expression feature where I explain the techniques I used.

23 August 2017

MFT WEEKLY SKETCH CHALLENGE - SKETCH 347

It's Wednesday again, so you know what that means - it's time for a new sketch on the My Favorite Things Challenge Blog.

Remember, if you play along you could be the lucky winner of a $50 Gift Voucher to MFTstamps.com

Here is my interpretation of Sketch 347


I don't know about you but I love autumnal colours and was inspired by the new Make your Mark background stamp that reminded me of a wicker basket..........which I thought would go well with the Harvest Mouse set.

You know what comes next........yep, the Copic colours.


and here is the sketch that we are using for inspiration for this weeks challenge:


So why not join in and you never know you could be the lucky winner of the $50 Gift Voucher!
For more Design Team inspiration please visit the MFT Card Challenge Blog HERE

Happy Colouring

SUPPLIES
Card: MFT Latte, Safety Orange
Copics - listed above

LOOK WHO'S BACK AT MY FAVORITE THINGS!!!

Hold on to your cauldron's girls, the witch is back with her adorable familiars in tow!


I suspect I will be making quite a few cards with this sweet little witch.  For this project I chose to add a couple of pumpkins and her frog (tried to turn him into a cute toad)

The new version of the stamp has been updated with additional sentiments and a matching open style die set which are both compatible with the previously released version (if you were lucky enough to get it)


You know me by now, I couldn't resist giving her a name because "Winnie" will be appearing alongside her batty friend in my Copic Classes this October.
There are only a few spaces left on Sunday 15th October - so if you'd like to create an awesome Halloween card with me whilst gaining confidence and learning new techniques with your Copic markers (which of course you can now buy at mftstamps.com and in store) then sign up soon, you'll not want to miss this class!!

I hope that all of you who had been requesting the return of this fantastic stamp set are jumping for joy.......I was, especially knowing I could use her for my pre-Halloween class, woo hoo!!

And have you seen the new card kit that is also being released today?

Please hop on over to the blog to see what my fellow Design Team Members have been creating with this fantastic kit.........HERE 

Many thanks for visiting, I'll be back soon with more colouring

SUPPLIES:
Frog: G20, G40, YG61, YG63, B0000, B000, E97, E99, W8
Pumpkin:YR20, TR21, YR12, E97, W2, W1, YG93, YG91
Skin: E30, E41, E42, E43
Eyes: YG61, YG67, C8
Hair: E11, E13, E15, E17, C2, C4
Dress: YG91, YG93, YG95, YG97, C4, YR12, YR27, BV02, BV04
Boots: BV02, C2, C4
Broom: E55, E57, E41, E42, E43, E51, C4
Hat: BV02, C2, C4, C6, YG91, YG93, YG95, YG97, C4, YR21, YR12
Ground: C00, C0, C1, C2, C4, G40, YR20, BV00

16 August 2017

MFT WEEKLY SKETCH CHALLENGE - SKETCH 346

When your crafting mojo has gone walk about and you have that urge to create something but haven't got a clue where to start why not take a look at the Weekly Sketch Challenge at My Favorite Things - a new one is posted every Wednesday HERE.

Not only do we provide oodles of inspiration to get those creative juices flowing again, but if you join in the challenge and we really hope you do, then you have the chance of winning a $50 Gift Voucher to mftstamps.com

Anyway here is my interpretation of Sketch 346


As you can see there is very little Copic colouring..........just the grey stripe and around the edge of the teeny weeny spider in the middle of the maze.

The spider/web background was created using the awesome Fab-BOO-lous Friends - I simply randomly stamped the web and spider images all over a pre-cut piece of Cement Gray card using Blueprints 31 with MFT Hybrid Cement Gray ink.

Can you see the tiny spider in the centre, well he is actually the background spider stamped on to a piece of shrink plastic.  I coloured him with black pencil, trimmed around him and then shrank him with a heat gun.  Now, that stuff is a little hit and miss for me, sometimes I get great results and on occasions I've ended up with a blob of melted plastic - this time thankfully it worked!

What do you think of the maze's we have in the store - cool aren't they and they fit inside our awesome round shaker pouches, so you don't have to mess around with acetate and foam tape.  I opted for black but we have white and even a multi-colour pack.

Now to cut out the circle I used the window part of the Circle Shaker Window and Frame die, but I omitted to cut out the frame - I wanted a much cleaner look for this card.  Oh and the circle I cut out, well I fitted in the pouch, maze and ball bearing and then carefully replaced the circle, with the spider glued into the centre, mindful to line up the stamping - I then taped it all in place.  

And by the way no-one is too old for a maze card.......when I showed my husband what I'd created he sat there playing with it until he had got the little ball bearing into the middle & hit the spider!!

Anyway, it's over to you guys - it's a really fun sketch this week!
Have a go, you never know you may be the lucky winner and get a $50 voucher to spend in the MFT store!

Thanks for dropping by

SUPPLIES:
Copics - T1, W10
Caran D'Ache Luminance Black pencil

9 August 2017

MFT NEW RELEASE DAY - AUGUST 2017

I wanted to share something from this new release..........
someone, by the name of Ruby (you know, that pesky photobombing chicken) saw the 
Written in the Stars stamp set and Shining Stars dies and got so excited!!

Just look what that show off has been up to.......posing on the haystacks!


As a farmer's wife, I am spending quite some time in harvested fields.......so it seemed appropriate to incorporate one in my card.

I kept this one far more simple, just a single die which I double cut for extra depth, a simple sentiment - it's not showing up too well in the photograph above sadly (much clearer in the larger photo below) and of course Ruby, coloured with Copics!


My April students will be able to do this one, I used the same techniques that I taught them in class.........now there's a challenge.........come on guys, I'd love to see you having a go!!
And you know that chicken will be thrilled to see herself on your cards!


The time you have all been waiting for has finally arrived
at MFT Store - HERE


Before you dash off to spend your pennies, why not have a look at what my Design Team members have been busy creating for you, it may inspire you to add an extra item or two into your shopping basket mwah ha ha!

Oh and don't forget to leave a comment here on my blog - we'll be randomly selecting two lucky winners who will receive $100 store gift vouchers!

Thanks for visiting

SUPPLIES
Card - MFT Kraft
Background: B000, E41, E42, E43, E44, E50, E51, E53, W1, W3
Ruby: E11, E13, E15, E17, E41, E42, E43, E44, E97, E99, YR23, YR27, R21, R24, W8

8 August 2017

MFT AUGUST RELEASE COUNTDOWN DAY 1

Not long to wait now, the new release will be available tonight at 9:00 EDT (2:00am UK)

I thought I'd have a little bit of fun with this one, tee hee, I was certainly chuckling away whilst I was making it!


As you will see when you read the supplies list, I got a tad carried away with this project - but having fun is what crafting is all about, isn't it!

I don't know about you but I'm not sure if I'd want to go knocking on this particular door at Halloween..........I dread to think what is lurking at the letter box!
BOO!!!

Would you like to know how I went about creating this card?

I started with an A2 card cut from a piece of MFT After Midnight cardstock.
The door panels were cut by fitting one stitched square die inside another, adhering them temporarily with tape and cutting them out of MFT After Midnight card.  I then backed the top two squares with tracing paper to give the impression of glass panels.
At this point I cut out squares in the top of the A2 card for the windows and also the letterbox.
The cheeky little monsters were stamped in various shades MFT Hybrid ink on Copic suitable card.  As with the Flamingo earlier in the week I coloured over the top with Copic markers.........I intend to go into more detail regarding this technique in my Artistic Expression Feature on the MFT Blog later this month.
Once coloured, I cut them out carefully and adhered them to the back of the window panels.

I used the new Mail Delivery die to create the letter box and added a pair of green arms and the number thirteen from the Confetti Numbers die.
In order that the peeking monsters showed up I mounted a piece of white card to the back of the front panel, with a piece of black paper behind the letter box opening.
The door knocker and handle were created using small dies from Stitched Tiny Tags and Surf and Turf.

Whilst you're counting down the hours why not hop on over to the MFT Blog and see what my fellow Design Team members created today.


As I said earlier the release will be available to purchase from the My Favorite Things store at 9:00pm EDT

Back later, with another project.
SUPPLIES:
(please be aware some links will not come live until later tonight)

Inks: MFT Hybrid - Blue Breeze, Spearmint, Cotton Candy
Red Monster: R21, R22, R24, R27, R39, YR16, YR18, Y13, W8
Blue Monster: B01, B02, B04, B06, YG25, C1, C3, C5, W8
Green Monster: YG23, FYG02, G07

5 August 2017

MFT AUGUST RELEASE COUNTDOWN DAY 4

Yesterday I showcased a realistic Flamingo........today, something completely different.....cute little Halloween characters from Birdie Brown!


There are quite a few funny little characters in this set.  I've just chosen four.  Oops nearly forgot the goofy looking spider!

For todays card I thought I'd have a bit of fun with some of our Die-Namics dies.........creating new shapes that fitted my composition - I used the largest Stitched Hexagon, then chopped off the bottom with one of the Stitched Basic Edges 2.
I also opted to have some of my characters hanging over the edge of the die cut shape - you have to partially fussy cut these parts and make sure they sit above the die so they don't get chopped off when you run it through your die cutting machine.

And those lovely thin lines of cardstock are courtesy of one of the dies from Bundle of Baby Clothes.

I'll be back again soon with another countdown post.


SUPPLIES
(please note some links will not work until release day)
Background: W00, W0, W1, W3, W5, YR0000, YR000, YR00, BV0000, BV000
Bat: BV02, C4, C6, C8
Frankenstein: YG21, YG23, YG17, YG67, C2, C4, C6, C8
Pumpkin: YR12, YR14, YR21, YR24, YR27, YG63, YG67, C8
Witch: BV0000, BV000, BV00, BV01, BV04, W4, C8, C4, C6, YR23, E23, E27, E29



4 August 2017

MFT AUGUST RELEASE COUNTDOWN - DAY 5

Any idea why I am tickled pink?

Well, in less than a week you will be able to get your crafty little paws on some awesome new My Favorite Things goodies!

Today I am showcasing the new Flamazing Stamp set.


The stamp set itself enables you to stamp solid Flamingo images, but you know me by now, I like to think outside the box and used the stamp and some research via Google to give my example a more "realistic" look!

What do you think?

Curious as to how I did it?

Well, I initially stamped out the sections of the Flamingo in MFT Cement Grey Hybrid ink and then with several images of real life Flamingos for reference I started mapping in the various shades of pinks and greys with Copic marker over the top of the stamped image.  If you wish to try this yourself, please make sure you select a Copic suitable ink pad in a pale colour - I learnt the hard way that I should have chosen a pink hybrid ink........ho hum, next time! Once I felt I had gone as far as I could with the pens, I swapped over to pencils to add in the finer details and highlights, constantly referring back to the photographs.

 I stamped the sentiment on a curve to follow the shape of my circular card using my Misti, again with MFT Cement Grey Hybrid ink so that I could colour over the top of it with Copic marker without fear of it bleeding.

For more inspiration and crafting goodness from my fellow Design Team members
why not hop on over to the MFT blog to see what they created today:

I'll be back soon with more Countdown fun!


SUPPLIES
(Please remember some of the links will not go live until launch day)
Flamingo - E01, R11, R12, R20, R21, R22, W1, W2, W6
Water - B0000, BG0000, BG000, BG70, C00, C0, C1, C2, W1, W2
Caran D'Ache Luminance and Pablo coloured pencils