31 March 2015

Birthday Goat

Hello there, today I have the birthday card that I made for my dad, to share with you. I don't know about you but I do struggle with coming up with new ideas for male cards. I remembered I had the great Birthday Farm Animals from Simon Says Stamp and thought the goat would be great to use.
 

I first stamped the goat and then masked off portions of the pig holding the balloon, so that I could just stamp the balloon part. I drew in the string with a Copic Multi-liner. I then stamped the sentiment to the side. He was coloured in with Copic Markers, I hadn't initially planned on colouring it as a whole piece with a whole background and I am not entirely happy with it but it turned out ok.
 
 
The panel, which had been cut with the ME Femme Frames die, was adhered to a white A2 card base with fun/funky foam. I then added Glossy Accents to the balloon and the goats nose.
 
SUPPLIES:
Here are the links to what I have used on the card. Please click the picture to be taken to where I purchased it.

COPIC MARKERS - Goat: W6, W5, W4, W3, W2, W1, W0, E84, E81, R02, R01, R00, B000. Cupcake: E53, E51, E50, E29, E27, E25, E23. Balloon: B14, B12. Ground: E71, E70, E37, E35, E34, E33, E31. Sky: B91, B000, B0000.
 
Thank you so much for visiting me today. I hope you are all doing well. I cannot believe it is the last day of March already! Have a great day!

27 March 2015

Unforgettable

Hello there, I have had this WPlus9 stamp set on my desk waiting to be inked up since it was released. I knew what I wanted to do with it but for some reason felt like I wouldn't achieve what I had set out in my mind. My card idea looked like this card by the amazing owner of WPlus9 Dawn. Although I had a similar idea before I saw her card, once I saw it I knew I wouldn't be able to get anywhere close to what her amazing card was like.
 
Well, yesterday I decided just to go for it. Crafting is not about comparing yourself to someone else, everyone will always have different capabilities, strengths and abilities. That is the great thing about this crafting world, we can learn from each other.
 

So for my card, I started off with a panel of cardstock which had been run through my Cuttlebug using the ME Femme Frames dies - have I told you lately how much I love these? ;) I then stamped the elephant, sentiment and balloon from the set with Memento Tuxedo Black ink. I then masked off the elephant and balloon as well as die cutting some PTI clouds for masking paper too. 
 
 
I took out my Copic Airbrush (which I hadn't used in years) and added some shading with various blue Copic Markers. The elephant, balloon and clouds were then coloured with Copic markers as well. I added the panel to a white card base with foam and then added a liberal coat of Wink of Stella and Glossy Accents to the balloon.
 
SUPPLIES:
Here are the links to what I have used on the card. Please click the picture to be taken to where I purchased it.

COPIC MARKERS - Sky: B0000, B000, B41, B91. Elephant: W1, W2, W3, W4, W5, W6, R000, R20. Balloon: BG72, BG75, BG78. Clouds: N1, Blender.

I am happy with how it came out, although they are a little difficult to see in the photo, I feel I could practice some more on the clouds. Aren't those elephants just so cute? I love them! Thank you so much for visiting me today. I hope you have a lovely day!

25 March 2015

You Are The Best

Hello there, I made this card a week ago or so but struggled with getting a good photo of it. I am still not happy with it but at some point you just have to go with it, right? Anyway, I had a play with my new Hero Arts products for this card. I love these word stamps!
 

I first cut a piece of white cardstock using the ME Femme Frames die. I took the Hero Arts Thanks Stamp & Cut set and stamped the 'thanks' portion with HA Pink to Red Ombre ink (using just the two lightest colours) and the co-ordinating sentiment below in black ink. I then took the hearts from the Hello set and stamped these using the same ombre ink pad.
 
 
This panel was added to an A2 card base, that has a sheet of paper from the Doodlebug Hello Sunshine collection on it, using foam tape. I then went over the hearts with clear Wink of Stella and Glossy Accents.
 
SUPPLIES:
Here are the links to what I have used on the card. Please click the picture to be taken to where I purchased it.
 

Thank you so much for visiting me today. I spent the day yesterday updating my blog a little, what do you think? Not a massive change, but a few tweaks here and there! Have a great day!

22 March 2015

VIDEO | Simon Says Stamp Haul #8

Hello there, I am back with another haul to share with you. This time from Simon Says Stamp. There was a few things that I had wanted for a while and eventually I managed to get them, so this is a bit of a mish mash of items!
 
I apologise for the poor quality video but here is what I got:
 


PRODUCTS:
Here are the links to what I shred in the video. Please click the picture to be taken to where I purchased it.
 

Thanks so much for visiting me today, I hope you are having a great weekend. I hope to be back soon with some more actual cards!

19 March 2015

Paper Giveaway Winners

Hello there, I am back today to announce the winners of my paper giveaway. I was surprised with the amount of entries, I was not sure anyone would want them so I am really happy that so many of you entered.
 
The winners of the papers are:
 
No. 7 Amanda
No. 62 Andrea
 
Please can you email me with your addresses ladies, using the link in the side bar to the left. Many thanks again to all that entered. I will be doing more of these giveaways soon so please keep a look out for those. Have a great day!

18 March 2015

VIDEO | Review: Hero Arts Ombre Inks

Hello there, after sharing my last haul with you I had some requests to do a review on the new Hero Arts Ombre Ink Pads. This is an initial review as I haven't used them much yet but here I am sharing what I think. (If you want to see the video without the writing please feel free to scroll down see that).
 

The ombre look is very popular in the crafting world right now and Hero Arts have come out with an ink pad that can help you achieve that look in your stamped images. Up to now, to get this look, you would have had to use the rock and roll technique with multiple ink pads. These ink pads let you achieve that look with just the one ink pad.
 
I have to admit, these have taken me a while to get used to. I didn't get particularly nice results the first time I used them. They may have been slightly dry on the top, or it may have just been how I was stamping/inking with them. I share more about that in my video.
 
VIDEO:
 


So, my overall initial thoughts are ... they are nice inks, although may take a little while to get used to. They are great in that you do not have to have a lot of different ink pads to achieve this look - this cuts down on cost but also on storage. If you already have a lot of ink pads then you may be able to achieve this look using the rock and roll technique with what you already have.
 
 
I will admit that I got caught up in the hype of these. If I had waited before purchasing, would I have bought them? I will never really know that answer. I like having new products to play with but I don't tend to use the multiple inking technique that often. I may do now though since I have the inks! One thing that is likely though, I probably won't buy any more colours of these. I don't think that will be necessary for my needs and these ones give a good colour palette I think. I am, however, looking forward to using them more and see what I can do with them.
 
I got mine from Make The Day Special and although they are out of stock at the moment, I believe they are hoping to get them back in, in a week or two. I hope that has helped some of you and I would love to hear your thoughts on them if you have used them. Thanks so much for visiting me today.

17 March 2015

6x6 Paper Giveaway - Now Closed

Hello there, I have been having a bit of a sort out of my craft room and I have some 6x6 paper pads and loose/cut up sheets that I am no longer using. If you would like to receive some of these then please link below.

The paper pads are old Echo Park and My Mind's Eye ranges. They have been used, pages taken out or bits cut off but there are tons of pages that are in perfect condition. Some of the individual papers will not be labelled as they have been cut from 12x12" pages. The picture above is what I am giving away but this will be randomly split up between three winners. The winners will each receive three 6x6 paper pads plus individual sheets.
I am sorry but due to postage costs, I can only accept UK entries this time. Having said that, if you are happy to pay the extra postage costs (above what I would have paid to post inside the UK), then I am happy to post internationally (please note though that UK postage is expensive!).
I will pick three random winners tomorrow evening. Please add your link below (you do not need a blog to enter but please note that I will not be able to contact you so you will need to check back to see if you have won):

16 March 2015

VIDEO | Hero Arts Haul

Hello there and good afternoon to you, depending on where in the world you are! :) I recently made an order from Make The Day Special for the newest Hero Arts release, so I thought I would show you what I got ...
 


PRODUCTS:
Here are the links to what I have used on the card. Please click the picture to be taken to where I purchased it.


As mentioned in the video, Jennifer McGuire recently made some cards using these products and I just fell in love with them. The inks are very unique and I can't wait to have a play with them, along with the stamps and dies. I was asked if I can do a review on the inks, I am definitely no expert but I will be doing that shortly. Many thanks for visiting me today, I hope you have a great week!
End of code