29 June 2012

Sunflower yellow.....

I think Mother Nature has got a tad confused of late,
we have had so much rain that the bottom
of our garden is turning into a pond!

So I wanted to create something bright and summery
to make up for it.


Isn't she adorable and what is even better is that she comes free with the current Papercraft Essentials magazine, how cool is that!!

SUPPLIES:
Sylvia Zet Exclusive Stamp
Papers - My Minds Eye, Stella Rose - Mabel
Memory Box border die
Dienamics swirly die
Mini Doily
Flat backed pearls & ribbon from stash
Sewing Machine
Chalk Inks
and yes you guessed it ....oodles of Copics


CHALLENGES:
Bearly Mine - #41 Anything goes
Deep Ocean Challenge - #29 Welcome Summer
Oldie but Goodie - Summer Holidays
Sweet Stamps Blog - #71 Patriotic or Summer
Try it on Tuesday - Anything goes
Cooking up with Katie - #98 Lace and a sunny flower
Crafty Creations Challenge - #176 Embellish it
Creative Inspirations - #169 Anything goes

As always thanks for dropping by my blog today
Crafty Hugs

28 June 2012

Calamity Jane strikes again

For my latest post on behalf of the
Make It Crafty
Inspiration Design Team
I wanted to do something a little different..........

So I am about to share with you what I lovingly call
"CREATIVE CALAMITIES"

I have named this little chap "Blooper" and he and I are going to highlight problems that I experience and how I have learnt to correct or overcome them.


SHINY COPICS
You can see at the base of Bloopers cheek that the Copic ink is sitting on top and refusing to blend and although you cannot see it in the picture it has gone shiny.
I find this particular problem really annoying and because as you know I am renowned for layering oodles of Copics in my artwork I experience this phenomenon quite often.

Firstly, why does this happen?
You have probably saturated the cardstock or paper with too many layers of ink and I have noticed that it tends to occur most often when I am using very dark, strong pigmented colours.
I’ve found it also happens if I allow layers to dry and then go back to it especially when using deeper colours.

What can you do if it happens?
Firstly, don’t panic or rip up your work!

You can sometimes remove the problematic layer with the Colourless Blender, but this solution tends to just remove the top layer and if you try to apply more ink it does on occasion go shiny yet again.
So if having tried unsuccessfully to add more colour I reach for my coloured pencils, they enable me to add the additional colour and have the added benefit of reducing or eradicating the shine.
If you look very carefully I have done just that on the upper portion of Bloopers cheek.

(I will explain how I use Copics and pencils together in a future tutorial)


SMUDGING
This happens quite alot with digital stamping for several reasons:
You have not allowed enough time for your printer ink to dry properly – if in a hurry, blast the image with a heat gun to seal the ink.

A note of warning – some printer inks just do not play nice with alcohol markers!

If you are unlucky enough to be struggling with this issue I do have a little piece of advice:
The eagle eyed amongst you will have spotted that the top half of the above image has been coloured using a very pale yellow and has not smudged whereas the bottom part lets be honest looks a mess!

Now as long as I am careful and allow the ink to dry I do not have a problem with my printer but you can see that I managed to make a right pigs ear of poor Bloopers dorsal fin by repeatedly colouring over the inked lines.

So regardless of your brand of ink or printer the best advice I can give to avoid unwanted black smudges is to colour up to and around the printed lines when using very pale colours, avoid the temptation to colour over them and you should eliminate this particular problem.


BLEEDING

How many times has this happened to you when you have been using those scrummy reds and hot pinks!!
They are notorious for bleeding so extra care needs to be taken, try not to colour too close to the lines, in other words allow for the fact they are probably going to bleed.
This can occur with other colours too if you get carried away with your blending and saturate your paper/cardstock

Again, do not panic!

Allow the area to dry and then carefully try and push the colour back using the colourless blender.
Please note, if you do it whilst the main colour is still wet you often find the unwanted colour bleeds into the area you have dampened with colourless blender and you make the bleed worse
(been there, done that)
Be aware however that some deep colours will be much harder to push back – so when using dark shades, just take extra, extra care!

Another cause of bleeding is inappropriate cardstock or paper.
We all experiment with different types of cardstock until we find one that suits our particular colouring style.
I personally have found that alcohol markers are quite fussy little devils and they work best on ultra smooth cardstock such as
Make it Crafty Blending Card
especially if you add oodles of layers of ink like I do!


BLOBS
Oh boy, this always seems to happen when I am behind on a DT deadline or am half-way through a really important project and I have over filled a Copic marker!!!

Hands up who has seen/done this!!!
You are merrily colouring away and all of a sudden a huge amount of ink comes down the nib – grrrrrr!

If you use a pale colour, in this case it was E0000 and E000 then you can with a little patience remove most of it with colourless blender, but patience is a virtue and you have to allow the card to dry before adding more blender or the colour as I have already said before will bleed back into the dampened area.

Darker colours will prove more problematic so you may need to, oh I don’t know incorporate the blob into your design or add a strategically placed sentiment, chippie, button etc and hey presto no one will ever know it’s there!!!


At the end of the day, regardless of your ability or experience the above ”creative calamities” happen to us all!

I hope this post has shown you that with a little patience, ingenuity and a Colourless Blender your work does not have to go flying in the bin.

Crafty Hugs

21 June 2012

Happy Birthday Copic Europe

The guys at
COPIC MARKER EUROPE
are celebrating their
1st Birthday

SUPPLIES:
Free Wee Stamp Image from Copic Marker Europe
Papers - Fizzy Moon Celebrations
Circle dies - various
Sewing machine
Copics....


If you have not already done so why not hop on over to
to join in with their birthday celebrations!

Crafty Hugs

20 June 2012

Doodle Dragon June Show and Tell

Have you seen all the fabby new images Dustin has been creating?

This rocket is one of them:


Another boy-ish card, crikey I am doing well!!


SUPPLIES:
Doodle Dragon Rocket digi - 2nd Half of Year release
Papers - Bo Bunny Blast Off collection
Quickutz star dies
Sentiment - TLC Creations
Sewing Machine
Copics


Why not hop on over to Doodle Dragon Studios and take a peek at all the cute digis and great deals Dustin has on offer.

CHALLENGES:
Crafty Sentiments - Bright Colours
Make it Monday - Anything goes
Victorine Stamps - Anything goes

As always many thanks for visiting.
Crafty Hugs

18 June 2012

Father's Day Part 2

Hi there, well as promised here is the third card I made for Father's Day...


Having had fun with Mo Mannings "Extra" image I thought I would use this one "Fixer Boy" for the card I was making on behalf of my son.



HOW TO...
Want to know how to create a distressed leather tool belt. 
It is really easy to do, simply colour it using browns of your choice and then carefully go over the highlight areas with colourless blender.  But then the knack is to go over these areas again (once dry) with a light shade to add a touch of graining/wear back in.
What do you think?


SUPPLIES:
"Fixer Boy" - Mo Manning Digi Image
Paper - Forever Friends, The Good Life
Copics (sorry no list)
Sewing machine

CHALLENGES:
ATC's with Attitude - #16 Anything goes
Crafts 4 Eternity - #76 Dashing Dads
Fat Pages with Attitude - #16 Anything goes
Fussy and Fancy - #65 Boy Attitude
Stampin with the Dragon - Anything goes
The Poodle Parlour - Red, White and Blue

Thanks for visiting
Crafty Hugs


17 June 2012

Dustin Pike Challenge - Tie me up!

In other words you need to use ribbon on your entry for this challenge
and remember, you qualify for a free image just by entering!!

Once you have finished your creation post your entries on Dustin's blog

Here is my card:


Isn't he cute, unlike the snapping ones that keep attacking my friend Dorcas's ducks!!



Supplies:
Turtle - Doodle Dragon Studios (70 Digi Set)
Sentiment - TLC Creations
Papers - Jillibean soup Watermelon Gazpacho Soup & DCWV Nana's Nursery
Memory Box die
Flat backed pearls and ribbon from stash
......and copics......


I am going to enter this little guy into the following challenges:

CC Monthly Challenge - #25 Time to embellish
Sir Stampalot Challenge - Bingo (Ribbon/Lace, Polkadots, Green)
Forever Friends Challenge - #38 Anything goes

As always thanks for visiting
Crafty Hugs


14 June 2012

The girl's got attitude!

Don't do dresses?
Don't do pink?
Think balloons are for babies?

Well, Melissa says yes to all the above.....can you tell?


Don't you just love her expression!!!



Supplies:
Melissa's Balloon - Make it Crafty Digi Image
Sentiment - TLC Creations
Papers - Me to you, Spring Chic
Dies - Poppy Stamps and Nestabilities
Sewing Machine
Ribbon and pearls from stash
and of course Copics....


I'd like to enter Melissa into the following challenges:
Craft your Passion - #114 Anything goes
Make it Monday - Anything goes
Corrosive Challenges - Feeling punchy

Until next time
Crafty Hugs



13 June 2012

Father's Day Part 1

Perhaps a strange title for this post, but I make 3 Father's Day cards each year.

One for my Dad, one for my Father in Law and one for my hubby on behalf of my son!

Now, as hubby visits my blog you will have to wait until after Sunday to see his card, but I can share with you the other two cards I made.


No, you are not going mad, I just liked the Mo Manning image so much I made identical cards!


Supplies:
"Extra" - Mo Manning digital image
Patterned Paper - Forever Friends, The Good Life
Copics (see below)


The boys are being entered into the following challenges:
DP2 Challenge - #138 Anything goes
Scrappy Frogs Challenge - Celebrate Men
Pennys Challenges - I love you Dad
Celebrate the occasion - #66 Fathers Day
Crafty Sentiments - Fathers Day
Use it Tuesday - #33 All about Dad

Crafty Hugs


6 June 2012

Bugs, burgers, ants and bees....

Does the message go out on the insect telegraph the moment the BBQ gets set up??

Well having dealt with my fair share of pesky bugs lately I thought I would create a card for 
Dustin Pike's new challenge

"Don't Bug Me"


I chose a humble bumble
........ it always amazes me how these pudgy little chaps manage to fly with such agility!!

Supplies:
Bee Basket  - Doodle Dragon Digi
Nestabilities dies
Memory Box die
Paper Cellar Checks paper pad
Sewing machine
Quite a few Copics (sorry no list)
Stickles

Please post your entries HERE and you will get sent a surprise free image!


Thank you for visiting my blog today and I must apologise for not doing the same to you guys over the past few days but I've been a tad busy.

We ended up hosting an end of exam/birthday camp out at our house at the weekend - the campsite booking fell through and in a mad moment I offered our garden as an alternative!

................. to cut a long story short my hubby and I ended up getting about 2 hours sleep Saturday night! 

 Note to all, festival tents do not do well in wet weather, by the morning the largest tent was doing a great impression of a duck pond - hence the teens inside didn't sleep!!

Any way, I guess when you are the otherside of 40 the old body doesn't respond quite so well to being deprived of sleep and I am walking around in a bit of a daze!

So here's hoping by this weekend I will have caught up on both sleep and my chores

Crafty hugs to one and all

2 June 2012

Simply Betty Stamps and Make it Crafty Blog Hop

Well hello there, you should have arrived here from my good friend SANDIE

Make it Crafty and Simply Betty Stamps
are really excited to be bringing you the combined Hollywood Release!

Simply Betty Stamps
has a range of characters from Betty Monroe, through to Action Chris the movie director!!

Make it Crafty
has a range of background scenes perfect to switch and match with your famous characters!!


Now I know you've hopped on over to see our creations,
so I shall not keep you waiting any longer.....


Images used:
Betty Monroe - Simply Betty Stamps
Red Carpet - Make it Crafty

and like any star Betty just loves a close up!


....but are you ready for the Copics........brace yourselves....



MiC & SBS Guess that Movie

Of course we are going to have heaps of fun with this theme and June 1st & June 2nd we will be showcasing our stuff and then June 3rd we're bringing you a fun guessing game... Will you be able to guess the movie??  We'll be giving you some clues to help!!

Join us for the two inspiration days and leave a comment along the way for your chance to win a selection of new images.


There will be FOUR winners each day receiving a surprise character with matching background digi stamps.

Then on June 3rd, guess 6 out of 12 movies correctly and you will have a chance to win:
  
Grand Prize


A DVD Movie of your choice

PLUS the whole collection of MiC & SBS digi stamp Hollywood release images.

Second Prize
The whole collection of MiC & SBS digi stamp Hollywood release!

Can't wait?!!
But we know some of you just can't wait so both Betty and Zoe are offering you 25% off
their Hollywood collections between June 1st and June 3rd!

We hope you have lots of fun with us this weekend!!!

Todays Blog Hop Stops:
Suzi 
 Ruby
Delphine
 Lelia
  Sandie
  Jane (me)
 Betty
Bettina
 Cyndi 
Alyce
 Barbara
  Alison 

Okay dokey, time to hop along and say hello to BETTY

Thanks for calling by today

Crafty Hugs