Sunday 30 November 2014

Tinkerbell

This card is for my neighbour, who has a fondness for fairies and the colour purple.

Since I've been using my Copics a lot lately, I decided to get out my DI reinkers and do some watercolour painting!  This card is the result.  Unfortunately I didn't quite let the base coat dry before adding the folds detail on the dress, so it looks a bit wispy, but maybe it suits the fairy image?

The papers are some of my favourites at the moment, and I've had a bit of a purple theme going on this weekend (others to share another day).  I've also popped on a personalised sentiment.



Card Recipe:
  • Image - Saturated Canary Little Darlings Fairy Wishes Rubber Stamp
  • Typed Sentiment (Wendy Medium font)
  • Colouring - Distress Ink Reinkers
  • Cardworks Card base
  • Maja Design Papers - Coffee in the Arbor
  • The Langton watercolour paper
  • Stazon Ink Pad
  • Pearls
  • Viva Pearl Pen - Ice White
  • Wink of Stella
  • Sewing machine
I've been inspired by:
Happy crafting
Annette
xx



Thursday 27 November 2014

Christmas Fairy

I really love purple at Christmas, and a lot of my favourite Christmas cards this year seem to feature this colour!  So why change the habit!  Here's another Sugar Nellie fairy, the adorable 'Gift Wrapping' from the Fairy Glen range.  There's a new challenge starting today at The Sugar Bowl Challenge so I hope you will join us this month.



Card Recipe:
I've been inspired by:
Happy crafting
Annette
xx



Tuesday 25 November 2014

Baby Squirrel

This card was a commission for a lovely guy who'd purchased one of my cards in the summer for his friend, who he calls Squirrel, (not to be confused with this Squirrel).  He contacted me to say that his friend is having a baby next month and he wondered if I could make a white with girly pink accessories, baby squirrel card.

Today I'm sharing the result.

The circle sentiment reads "Congratulations Squirrel, beautiful baby girl".

I hope she likes it.  :0)



Here's a close up of the squirrel to show the shimmer on the flowers.  I also popped some glossy accents on his nose, and this has unfortunately caught the light a bit too much!



Card Recipe:
I've been inspired by:
Happy crafting
Annette
xx



Sunday 23 November 2014

Yellow Fairy

I haven't had much (any) time to do any colouring this weekend as I've been busy doing some tidying of my recently purchased stash, so I'm sharing a card made with an image I coloured a while ago.  It's a bit of a summery image which makes a change from my current festive makes.  I hope you like her.

I'm off to hide tidy away some of this week's purchases.



Card Recipe:
I've been inspired by:
Happy crafting
Annette
xx



Saturday 22 November 2014

Cold Hands, Warm Heart

I'm still in festive mood, with another reminder for the Snow-vember challenge which is happening over at Squirrel's blog.  It ends on 30 November, so get your (ice) skates on and get your snowmen entries in.

I've again tried a spot of grey added to the shadow areas. I don't know why, but I find white hard to 'colour'.  I do like the pink and aqua colour scheme though.  Hope you do too.



Card Recipe:
  • Image - LOTV Cold Hands, Warm Heart
  • Colouring - Promarkers, Copics
  • Clouds - Dovecraft chalks
  • Cardworks Card base
  • Lili of the Valley paper pad and The Snowman paper pack
  • Neenah Classic Crest White Stamping Card
  • Momento Stamp Pad Ink
  • Magnolia Mistletoe Die
  • MFT Snowflake Die
  • Satin Ribbon
  • Pearls
  • Crystal Glamour Dust
  • Glossy Accents
  • Viva Pearl Pen - Ice White
I've been inspired by:
Happy crafting
Annette
xx



Thursday 20 November 2014

D'oh. It's a paw, not a flower

I've been in a bit of a funny mood lately and that usually means trouble for my bank balance.  The dangerous thing about Paypal is that it's so easy to browse and find myself buying things online without actually having to get up from my chair and search for my credit card.

I've purchased enough stamps to last me 100 years.

And maybe a few more for luck.

Then, to make the most of my new stamps, I signed up for one of the Kit & Clowder colouring classes at the weekend.

Of course then I needed some new copic colour combos to practice my colouring.

I'm expecting a call from my credit card company any day to ask if my Amex has been stolen.

Anyway, I've actually used a recent purchase on today's card.

It's one of my first CC Designs.

And I kinda like them!  (oh dear!)

Despite my mission to focus on the colouring, unfortunately I made a bit of a boo-boo on this image. I coloured the girlie first, but it was only when I coloured the cat that I realised that the 'flower' in her hair was actually the moggie's left paw.  The trouble was that I'd already coloured it bright red.

Whoops!

Mid-colour, I fessed up to the lovely Squirrel, who suggested that I pop a bandage on the red paw. Instead opted to darken up the rest of the kitty so that I could colour over the red in dark brown. Hopefully it doesn't have too much of a red tinge to it now, but it does merge into her brown hair a bit.

I was pleased to see that it's not just me who had issues with this image though, as 2 days ago I took solace in reading that Squirrel had problems of her own with it!

And yes, I had also coloured the mistletoe as holly as she did.

D'oh.  

But as Squirrel said, who has ever seen prickly mistletoe?

Anyhoo, this project is to support the challenge at As You Like It Challenge which is to showcase your favourite type of Christmas card, modern or traditional.  I've opted for a modern image,  but I guess my chosen red and green colours are fairly traditional!  However, it's cute and therefore modern for me all the way.



Here's a close up of the image (and the troublesome paw).  I must say that this image does remind me of myself and my furbaby Pickle!

Despite my futile attempts at trying to persuade her otherwise, she's not very keen on snuggles. This is almost exactly the pose she's mastered when I scoop her up.




Card Recipe:
I've been inspired by:
Happy crafting
Annette
xx



Monday 17 November 2014

Seeing Stars

It's another watercolour card from me today, but a bit more fussy than yesterday's layout.  I'm also back in festive mode with a Tiddly Ink Wryn carol singing.

I've used a Night Sky Border die that I've had for ages, but I'm not sure whether I've actually used it more than once already, so I decided to give it an outing today using some silver mirri card.  I'm also a teensy bit addicted to my new stitched circle stax die, so that's also made another appearance.  I hope you're not getting tired of it! :0)



Card Recipe:
I've been inspired by:
Happy crafting
Annette
xx



Sunday 16 November 2014

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

I'm having a break from Christmas cards, although this image is versatile enough to become a Christmas or New Year image with the right sentiment!

This is also another CAS layout, but I stitched the image panel for some added interest.  These images are really large so there's not really much room for anything else anyway!

Hope you like it.



Card Recipe:
  • Image - Uptown Girls Victoria and Juliette's Night Out
  • Sentiment - LOTV Sentiment Tags
  • Colouring - DI Reinkers
  • Cardworks Card base
  • Maja Design Papers
  • Baby Blue Button Twine
  • The Langton watercolour paper
  • Stazon Ink Pad
  • Pearls
  • Viva Pearl Pen - Ice White
  • Wink of Stella
I've been inspired by:
Happy crafting
Annette
xx



Saturday 15 November 2014

Carolling Trio

I'm still in festive mood today with a quick reminder for the fun Snow-vember challenge taking place over at Squirrel's blog.

The image is quite large so it's another CAS card too, but I did sneak in some peals and a spot of stitching.  :0)



Card Recipe:
I've been inspired by:
Happy crafting
Annette
xx



Saturday 8 November 2014

Seeds and Greetings

I'm still in a festive mood, with a reminder for the Snow-vember challenge that's taking place over at Squirrel's blog.  But there are no traditional red, green or gold colours in today's creation.  Instead I've used purples and lilacs with a gorgeous shimmery backing paper to match.

And yes, it's another CAS layout - I think this style is growing on me as it really makes me think about my colouring!



Card Recipe:
  • Image - LOTV Seeds and Greetings
  • Colouring - Promarkers, Copics
  • Cardworks Card base
  • MFT Snowflake Die
  • Embroidery thread
  • Card Candi
  • Crystal Glamour Dust
  • Glossy Accents
  • Viva Pearl Pen - Ice White
  • Pearl
I've been inspired by:
Happy crafting
Annette
xx



Thursday 6 November 2014

Fairy Cracker

The new challenge at As You Like It Challenge is to make your favourite kind of gift wrapping or box. This cracker is one of my favourites for several reasons.

  1. It is really simple to make
  2. It's quite large, so it's great for wrapping awkward shaped gifts, and
  3. It's a template that I created myself (from a bit of trial and error) which is always a bit more satisfying!

If you want a copy of the template, then please take a peek at my freebie tutorials page.



Card Recipe:
I've been inspired by:
Happy crafting
Annette
xx



Wednesday 5 November 2014

Autumnal Bird Box

I found this little box in a craft shop and decided to make a garden themed box for collecting seeds from my favourite flowers as autumn turns.

I covered it with LOTV Country Lady papers and used my Watering Can image to decorate it.  The only embellishment is a pearl I added to help lift up the lid as it's magnetic. I also inked around all the edges to age it a bit.






And finally to all my fellow Brits ... HAPPY "GUY FAWKES NIGHT"!
If you're braving the weather tonight and going out with your sparklers, have fun. :0)



Project Recipe:
I've been inspired by:
  • Sketchy Colours - Green, Beige, Brown
  • Sparkles - Autumn Colours
  • Penny Black & More - Anything Goes
  • Simon's Monday Challenge - Good Ol' Days (hunting round the garden collecting seeds for planting next year, like I used to do when I was younger - trouble was back then I didn't know the difference between flowers and weeds.  Hmm, perhaps not much has changed there!)
  • Lawnscaping Challenge - Fall / Autumn

Happy crafting
Annette
xx



Tuesday 4 November 2014

Black Kitty

Today's make is a simple Christmas gift-tag featuring Mavis from Tiddly Inks.  I printed her out quite small, cut her out using one of my Stitched Circle stax dies, and mounted her onto some silver mirri card.  I popped some red button twine into a hook at the top for trying to a present.

I also attempted the no-lines technique again.   I think it looks so good when others do it, but hmm, more practice for me, I think!

Oh, and I missed some glitter off her hat bobble - I've only just seen that as I've uploaded the photo!




Card Recipe:
I've been inspired by:
Happy crafting
Annette
xx



Monday 3 November 2014

Preparing for Christmas

If you visit me often, you'll know that the whole concept of CAS freaks me out.

I feel outside my comfort zone.

Exposed in an unfamiliar land.

My projects feel unfinished.

However, I'm really trying harder to concentrate on the quality of my colouring.  So, in an attempt to improve my skills and focus on the image, this is my card for the new challenge at Without Words Challenge where the theme is Preparing for Christmas.  My little guy is doing just that, preparing his Christmas tree with the help of his furry friend.



Card Recipe:
I've been inspired by:
Happy crafting
Annette
xx



Sunday 2 November 2014

Red and Green Winter Wishes

I've got another Snow-vember card to share with you today.  Without wishing to blow my own trumpet, I rather liked this one too!  It seemed jolly and bright, and I really tried hard with the colouring (even though a large proportion of the main character was white!)

Don't forget to link up your snowman themed creations to Squirrel's blog to be in with a chance of winning a festive prize.  I'll be back in a week or so to share another Snowman themed reminder project.

Snowtastic!



Card Recipe:
  • Image - Gifts on the Tree from Lili of the Valley
  • Rubber sentiment (sorry, I can't remember where I got it, possibly off a magazine!)
  • Colouring - Promarkers, Copics
  • Cardworks Card base
  • Memory Box Bursting Berry Vine Border
  • Ribbon scrap
  • Crystal Glamour Dust
  • Glossy Accents
  • Viva Pearl Pen - Ice White
I've been inspired by:
Happy crafting
Annette
xx



Saturday 1 November 2014

Welcome to Snowvember !!!

Well, before I move onto today's card, did you all make it safely through Hallowe'en?

All but 2 of my spooky treat pouches were gone by 7.30, and I was about to turn the pumpkin lights off at 8pm when two young witches arrived (one wearing a pink 'hello kitty' cardigan) to take the last two.  We had lots of witches, but also a mummy (although he did expressly tell me several times that he was a male mummy - just so I was sure), a werewolf (who'd lost his mask), Boba Fett (from Star Wars), a pumpkin and a skeleton.

The skeleton shook his treat pouch and asked me whether it contained an X-Box.  Methinks one little character might be a teensy bit disappointed when he opened it, but hopefully he liked the fun sized Mars bar instead.  In contrast, one of the first young witches to arrive was so excited about the treat pouch that she didn't realise there were treats inside, and she nearly burst with excitement to find a Twix fell out.

And as it was Friday, my dad popped over for his long-standing dinner invitation, but by the time he arrived I was already in full flow of 'open the door and shove a treat pouch through it', so he nearly got bag of Maltesers thrown at him.  Then I realised he wasn't in costume!  ;0)

Unfortunately the glow sticks I'd ordered from Amazon for some spooky glow-in-the-dark eyes to put in the bushes didn't arrive in time, so I've got 364 days to make them in time for next year.  But the tombstone I made with a huge box and some crinkled paper and put outside the front door was popular.  Unfortunately mainly popular with snails, who nibbled though the paper wrapping. Hopefully Stazon ink isn't poisonous to snails.

Anyway, for someone who doesn't like Hallowe'en, I enjoy the preparation, although I'm glad it's over now!

So, onto today's creation.  I can't believe how fast October has gone by and it's November already.

And we all know what November means ... without wanting to make you panic ... it's Christmas next month!!!

So to get us all in a Wintry mood, there is a new snowman themed challenge starting today.  You may remember back in September that the lovely Squirrel hosted 'The Great Penguin Challenge'.

Well November is Snowvember, so this month you need to make a snowman themed creation.

The challenge runs for the whole month of Snowvember, and there are some Christmassy prizes on offer for one lucky winner who links up to challenge.

So get your Frosty the Snowman images out and let your creativity flow.  The link and rules are on Squirrel's blog.






Card Recipe:
I've been inspired by:
Happy crafting
Annette
xx