30 November 2013

Where would we be without elves?

Another pencil on kraft creation today
brace yourself, over the coming days I will be sharing a lot of them!
 
 
SUPPLIES
Little Elf Kit by Mo Manning
DP Home for Christmas by Papermania
Pencils
Snowflake peel offs - Craft Creations
Snowflake Stamp - Hero Arts
Sentiment - Stampendous
twine from stash
 
I love the detail Mo puts in to her work and they are great fun to colour!
If any of you are not familiar with her work go take a peek HERE
(you won't be disappointed)

 
Now as tomorrow is December 1st I thought we should have a little bit of fun
so up until Christmas Eve I plan to post a new card every morning and at the bottom I will post a clue for a word that is relevant to the next days card.....

Clue for 1st December
It's cold, white and when it hits you everyone laughs.........
 
 
if you want to see if you guessed right.......please come back tomorrow
 


28 November 2013

We have internet.......

.....so brace yourselves!
 
My pencils and I have been working over time
and oh boy my fingers are sore,
but my Crimble Card Quota is almost done!
 
So it is now time to share them with you guys
 
SUPPLIES
 "Snowman" from CC Designs
Snowflake stamp - Lili of the Valley Christmas Icons 
DP Forever Friends Kraft Notes
Pencils
 
To all my American friends
Happy Thanksgiving
 
Hugs to all

22 November 2013

Too much egg nog results in.....

....................embarrassing "selfies"
just ask these reindeer!
 
Bet they never thought evidence of their drunken antics would end up on a Christmas card!
 
SUPPLIES
Reindeer Trio by Bugaboo
Star die - Memory Box (I think)
Ribbon from stash
Copics
Sky B97
Stars YR31, YR61
Reindeer W8, W9, B0000, B000, E41, E42, E43, E44, E71, E74, E77, E21
Shadows W5, W3
Lights BG45, B01, BG49, B63, B24
Sentiment YR20
 
Now I must apologise for my lack of blog visits.....no it's not me this time!
Ever since we had a power cut courtesy of a tree falling on power lines our internet has been temperamental and in the last few days it's been dreadful......in fact I'm holding my breath that I can finish this post before it blips again.
It's not until you lose internet that you realise just how many gadgets require Wi-Fi to run and how many tasks are usually completed online.
 
But there is a silver lining, I have been colouring like a woman possessed and I have oodles of Christmas cards to share!
 
Have a great weekend

19 November 2013

Twinkle, twinkle....

Stars and snowflakes.....
...must be Christmas!
 
It's a quick post today with an adorable little Elf
 
 
My aim has been to have my intended DP on my desk so that I can colour match my image - it is certainly helping - shame I am not always this organised!!
 
Little Elf Ava by Mo Manning
DP Winter Wishes by Lili of the Valley
coloured using Pablo's and Polychromos
Hero Arts Christmas sentiments stamp
twine and ribbon from stash
 
I'm entering this little sweetie into Mo's Challenge
"Christmas or Winter Holiday"
 
Toodle Pip

18 November 2013

Ooh heck Christmas is coming.....

......make some cards!
 
Well, it is what I have been trying to do
and over the next few weeks I intend to share them with you
 
Today I have a couple of cuties from Dustin Pike
 
SUPPLIES
Dustin Pike Christmas in July 2013 (13CIJ049)
DP: Country Companions Winter Wishes
ribbon from stash
Spellbinders circle die
Copics:
Holly/Bush G14, G16, G29
Snowman/Snow BG0000, BG000, T1, T2
E34, E37, B93, B95, B97, B99, C6, C8, C10, C2, C4, R27, T5, T7, YR12, YR16, YR18
Robins YR14, YR27, R22, R27, E71, E74, E77, T5, T7
Sky B000
 
SUPPLIES
Dustin Pike Christmas in July 2011 (CIJ76)
DP- Country Companions Winter Wishes
ribbon from stash
various snowflake dies
Spellbinders circle die
Copics:
Sky B000
Carrot YR00, YR04, YR07, YR18
Snowman C5, C7, RV32, RV34, BG0000, BG000, T0, T1, T2
Hat
R22, R24, R29, R39
Scarf G05, G16, G28
Boots C3, C5, C7, C9
Skis T1, T3, T5
Snow BG0000, BG000, T0
 
I hope listing the marker colours I use is of assistance to you guys!
 
For those of you who are just starting out on your Copic (alcohol marker) journey I would highly recommend using these images to hone your colouring skills - not many fiddly bits!!
(they are what I started with!)
You can find more of Dustin's work HERE
 
CHALLENGES
 
Keep Calm
and
Craft
 

16 November 2013

Pink Gem Designs Guest Designer for November

I am proud to say that I was asked to a Guest Designer for
Pink Gem Designs again!
 
The theme this month is
"Purple and Turquoise"
 
and I thought it would be fun to make a Christmas card using this non-traditional colour combination...
 
By leaving a little area underneath Rudy's eyes I was able to give him an adorable expression!!!
His bobbly fur was created using the dotty method - it's great fun to do, really easy, just build up the colours by layering dots of colour instead of blending traditionally - give it a try!
 
SUPPLIES
Rudy with Baubles by Pink Gem Designs
DP: Wonderland Paper pad by American Crafts
ribbon from stash
Copics
Reindeer - E71, E74, E21, E23, E27, E51, E53, E55, E55, E57, E59, W9
Baubles - YR23, BG11, BG13, BG18, BV11, BV13,BV17, N3, N6
Scarf - BV11, BV13, N3, N6, BG23
Background - BG0000, BG000, T0, T2, T4, T6
Stars Y21
Snowflakes - BG13
 
 
If you like this design and would like to view more
please click HERE
to see what the Design Team have created for
A Gem of a Challenge
hope we've inspired you to have a go yourself!
 
Toodle Pip for now

15 November 2013

How did that happen?

........I turned 45 yesterday!!
(but HRH Prince Charles will always be 20 years older than me hee hee!!)
 
and as always I made a cake.....
 
not the most imaginative of creations I confess but then I am still not fully recovered from the stupid virus I picked up last week & cake baking was the last thing I wanted to do Wednesday afternoon!
 
 
 
I cheated on the roses.....but in my defence I have made sugar paste roses in the past, honest!!
 
The base was American sponge cake, coloured pink and flavoured with strawberry extract.....I'd never tried it before......ooh it's good!
I really wanted to add freeze dried strawberries, you know like you get in Special K Red Berries but I could not find them anywhere - if anyone in bloggyland knows where I can get some please let me know. 
 
The filling was strawberry jam and crème au beurre....which I coloured and flavoured as per the sponge.  If you've not tried this type of butter cream before I would highly recommend it - traditional butter cream is far too sweet for me these days and if you are icing the cake with fondant as well the cake can quickly become sickly sweet!
It is a tad trickier to do than basic butter cream and is made with boiled sugar, egg yolks and butter but you get a much smoother, lighter cream with a delicate flavour and it's not remotely sickly. 
 
In hindsight I should have left off the extra piping around the bottom of the cake - I'd managed to ice the cake really neatly, heck it did not even need ribbon - a blob to secure each rose would have been sufficient - but I just had to fiddle - oh well lesson learnt for next time!
 
 
It's nearly all gone already.....and I even got the thumbs up from my Mum yesterday!!!!
 
Anyway, off to do a bit of colouring
If you are able to, please pop back tomorrow as I have another Guest Designer post to share,
otherwise, have a great weekend and I'll see you guys next week.
 
Be good, or at least pretend to be!

12 November 2013

Have you missed me?

Well I have missed you guys......
 
........first of all as I mentioned in my previous post
our son Ben managed to break his ribs at the end of October whilst playing rugby at University
 after the first week he decided that a weekend at home might help
( he also had a pile of laundry and no food )
I was just glad to see him again - I have to admit I had not found it easy being so far away from him knowing he was in so much pain!! 
 
We took the boy back late Sunday night and I confess I was feeling more than a little weary
....then woke up Monday morning with an ear infection and zero energy! 
Heaven knows what it was but oh boy I just hope I don't go down with it again,
I've been little more than a couch potato all week!!
 
But this morning, regardless of the housework that needs doing I just
had to get inky fingers and do something creative....
 
Here is the result:
Ooh it was good to do some colouring again and as you know I adore using my pencils on kraft!
 
SUPPLIES
Little Elf Pipa by Mo Manning
Christmas Grungy Messages - Lili of the Valley
Papermania Christmas Ribbon
DP: Nordic Christmas by First Edition Paper
Doily Corners and Borders die by Tattered Lace
Chalk ink
and of course Caran D'Ache Pablos & Faber Castell Polychromos pencils
 
I thought I'd jump right back into the blogging by entering Pipa in a few challenges
 
I think that's plenty for my first foray back don't you!
 
Toodle Pip peeps

4 November 2013

November - Without Words Challenge

Hello everyone, did you have a fun Halloween?
 
Well it is time for another challenge at Without Words and our theme this month is:
"Getting ready for Christmas"
 
I dare not speak too soon but I think I am making steady progress with my cards this year
and here is one of them:
 
Ever wondered what happens if Santa has a problem with the sleigh or reindeer
well Dustin Pike came up with a wicked solution!!!
 
SUPPLIES
Dustin Pike Christmas in July 2013 - 13CIJ040
Sentiment - Funny Christmas by CC Designs
DP - Kraft Notes by Forever Friends
Copics:
Plane - R35, R37, R39, R89, C2, C4, C6, C8, W00, W1, W3, W4, W6, W8
Santa - R22, R24, R29, R39, E0000, E000, E00, E41, E42, E43, W0, W2, T1, T2, T3, C00, C1, C3, C4
Bag - E31, E34, E37, E39
Elf - BG93, BG96, BG99, BG90, W1, G17, W7, R83, E0000, E000, E00, E41, E42, E43, B000, N5, N7
 
And this month we are thrilled that we are being sponsored by
Bunny Zoe's Crafts
 
gif maker
 
So for your chance to win all you have to do is enter your
Clean and Simple Christmas themed card HERE
 
Thanks for dropping by