I.T. Ian

The image used for this card is I.T. Ian by Dr. Digi House of Stamps.

This thank you card is for Tommy who has totally rewired, moved electrical sockets and done a bunch of other things during the rewiring of my Mum's house. The image was coloured with Copics and hubby printed the sockets for me on his 3D printer.  The one odd copper one is because all the sockets in the house are white with the exception of the kitchen where I have a copper theme going on and so had to have a copper switch (a light switch not a socket but never mind).  The sentiment was created with the WRMK foil pen which I used with my Silver Bullet after designing the label using SCAL software.

I am entering this card in the following challenges : -

Snow Fun

The challenge this fortnight at I ❤️Promarkers is

 'Christmas'

and the sponsor for this challenge is Dr Digi's House of Stamps with a prize of 2 digital images of the winners choice.

For my design creation I have used the Dr. Digi's House of Stamps Snow Fun image.  The sentiment was added digitally and then printed with the image.  I then coloured the background with watercolour paints.  With that done I then coloured the image and sentiment with Promarkers and added white heat embossing powder to the tops of the letters and the hat along with some clear stamped snowfall for that little bit of texture.   The snowman was coloured with very pale blue/grey for the shadow areas and finished off with a clear glitter pen for some yummy sparkle.  Finishing off I used a snowman image and stamped my backing paper with silver then die cut the snowflakes out of white glitter paper.

I am entering this card into the following challenges : -

• Cardz 4 Guyz 2W, 3E - #233 - Icy Cold (week 2)
• Crafty Sentiment Designs W, 1E, SIO - Snowman
• Tuesday Throwdown W -   #445 - Punny Sentiments (week 2)

Christmas With No Image

 International Art & Soul, a challenge which has been put together to incorporate any type of craft, paper, wood, flowers, recycling, glass - the world is your oyster :).  Come on over an join us with you artwork :)

Challenge #72
Christmas with NO Image

This fortnights challenge Christmas with NO Image has been chosen by our DT sister Christine.  Oh what a blast I had with this one.  I don't make many Christmas cards as neither of my daughters or hubby give Christmas cards and don't particularly like getting them (they would rather see trees growing than used for paper in this case).  I love beautiful cards which are works of art beyond the Occassion so only make a few for those so close to my heart.  In this case I found the perfect Christmas sentiment and it made me laugh and smile so much and would be perfect as a foiled sentiment which I did using the Close To My Heart foiling pen - what a fabulous addition to any craft room for those of you who work with .svg files in SCAL or MTC, and if possible any die cutter where you have access to design software.  My craft area is to die for in my opinion lol OK I am biased.  I am quite careful about what I buy and know if I did not keep the chains on I could go shopping mad so I won't buy anything unless I know I can use it more than 3 times :) :) so I have a lot of the basics - colours, medium types, plain card stock, dies, die cutter etc.  It wasn't until very recently I have branched out into rubber/polymer stamps and inks.  The one thing I could never do the way I wanted it to was foiling.  Just over a year ago hubby, on the quiet, bought me the TODO - a great machine especially for those with a very small craft area but it is a bit of a 'Jack of all trades, master of none'.  It does the foiling best of all but the sentiment dies for foiling, although stunning, are a bit big for my cards.  A couple of months ago I came across the Close To My Heart foiling pen which links to an electronic die cutter in the pen holder and runs off USB.  This sounded perfect and I invested - totally awesome and crossed the bridge on some of the things I wanted for my card making.  The text for this card was created in SCAL and the fill in option to fill in the text - this creates a crosshatch effect to the text.  Next I went to Monica's Craftroom as she has the most beautiful die cuts and so generously shares them for free - a truly generous person.   I found the triple layer doily which I have used and cut out in white and gold mirror card.  For the text area I created the centre die shape and added my text.  On cutting, I only cut the shape of this mount then replaced the blade for the hot foil tip, taped heat foil over the area I wanted to foil and fingers crossed hit the cut button again.  So pleased with how it got on.  The card covering was embossed, just for a bit of texture but nothing distracting from the die cut and sentiment.

Challenges entered:-

• Daring Cardmakers - W, C5 – NATURAL GOLD AND WHITE 
• Cardz 4 Galz 2W,3E #110 Get Ready For Christmas (W1 of 2) 
• Crafty Sentiment Designs W, 1E, SIO - Christmas

Tough Turkey

The image used for this card is Tough Turkey a brand new digi by Dr. Digi House of Stamps.

I coloured the image digitally and then used the image to design the backing paper using a program called Repper Pro which makes tiling patterns from colours/images imported into it.  I then designed the frame on SCAL, a design program used for die cutting.  Finally I printed the original image of the turkey and fussy cut him then sticking him on with foam tape.  I don't do a lot of digital colouring but TV is a sedative for me so the only way I can stay awake to watch anything is to do things on my laptop in the evening lol.

I am entering this card in the following challenges : -

• Crafting By Designs  M, F, 3E - Anything Goes
• The Card Concept 2W, #123 - Thanksgiving/Photo Inspiration* (W2 of 2)
• Crafting Happiness Challenges (W) - #23 FALL FOOD

Dunderton Decorators Ltd

The image used for this card is Dunderton Decorators Ltd by Dr. Digi House of Stamps.

This thank you card is for Rocco who decorated my Mum's house.  Not only did he do the decorating which is his main profession but he also assisted Barry the builder throughout the whole renovation which has taken about 3 months.  I coloured the image using Copics after printing him on a paint chart background.  For the backing paper I used a teal/green colour plain paper to match the colouring on the shirt and then stamped paint blots with emerald green then added flicks of yellow paint.  This was then embossed to add a bit of texture.  Hubby printed the paint cans for me on his 3D printer and I then painted them with acrylic paint.  The label was made by heat foiling using the WRMK heat foiling attachment which can be used with an electronic die cutter.

I am entering this card in the following challenges : -

• Always Fun Challenges - (W, 3E, Top 3 Awarded)  #137 THANK YOU
• Crafty Cardmakers  (2W, C15) #245 THANKFUL (Week 2) 

Gardening Gus

The image used for this card is Gardening Gus by Dr. Digi House of Stamps.

This thank you card has been created for John who is the plumber and done some amazing work in the renovation of my Mum's house.  He has put in a new kitchen for me, a bathroom too and moved heating radiators to new locations to make way for walls being knocked out and large window changed to a patio door.  The image is really a gardening guy so after I printed him I then fussy him and removed the hose pipe from his right hand and hoe from his left hand, these were replaced with a fussy cut adjustable spanner and a 3D printed pipe which I covered in copper powder.  The other copper pipes are Memory Box die cuts and the label was created by heat foiling using the WRMK hot foil pen which works with an electronic die cutter, the text and label design were created using SCAL software before being sent to my cutter.

I am entering this card in the following challenges : -

• Aud Sentiments Challenge 2W,E5  Must include a sentiment #240 Thank You Sentiment (W1 of 2) 
• The Male Room 2W, male projects only, #124 - Hobbies (W1 of 2)
• Cuttlebug Mania 2W, 3E - Thank You (week 2)
• Sweet Stampin W, 2E, include stamping - Make Your Own Background
• Die Cut Divas (M P1, E4, die cuts) November - Thanksgiving or Thank you

Tea-Light gift box

The challenge this fortnight at I ❤️Promarkers is
 'Stitches Real or Faux'

Our sponsor for this challenge is
The Paper Shelter



with a prize of 3 images to the winner.

I have used the image 'What A Mess' from the Paper Shelter to make a gift box to hold 4 tea-light candles.  My eldest daughter loves a 'pamper bath' with something scrumptious to make the bath smell nice and candles to help her chill.  I thought this image would be just great with the Christmas Lights text written on the box, just perfect to go with the Christmas smelling tea-lights inside.  It was quite a challenge to colour this image which is printed at just over 5cm in size, a fab lesson on pen pressure lol.  I have used 4 lovely Yankee Candles Christmas Eve tea light and they smell just gorgeous.

Promarkers used :-

Peacock Green, Emerald, Forest Green, Green, Berry Red, Red, Burnt Umber, Spice, Cinnamon, Tan, Sandstone, Gold, Lemon, Umber, Warm Grey 2, 3 and 5, Ice Grey 1, 2, and 3 and finally Metallic Gold.

I am entering in the following challenges :-

• Christmas at Sweet Stampin' M, 2nd Wed, 2E - Trees
• Paper Shelter W, 3E, #406 - Christmas
• The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge - 2W, C15, E3 - #60 - Anything Christmas Goes
• Make My Monday  (2W, Top 3, 3E) #109 RED, GREEN AND WHITE (Week 1) 
• Animal Friends Challenge (M, P1, E3, must have an animal) #80 - Reindeer
• Papercraft Business Challenge (M, P1, E3, any papercraft) #24 - To give as a gift

Grace Darling

 International Art & Soul, a challenge which has been put together to incorporate any type of craft, paper, wood, flowers, recycling, glass - the world is your oyster :).  Come on over an join us with you artwork :)

Challenge #71
UK Myths and Legends

This fortnights challenge UK Myths and Ledgends has been chosen by our DT sister Sall.  Where to start, what to do - go with the obvious St George and the Dragon and make a dragon themed card - no did not want to do that.  We do have so many myths and legends in the UK, well known ones and some very local ones.  The boarding school I went to as a kid had a Green Lady - she would appear every Friday 13th late at night and if she caught you awake she would scratch your eyes out.  Scary stuff for us wee kids, just about as scary as the nuns !!!!!!  The so called real story behind the Green Lady was she was the mistress of the house in times passed and was locked in a secret room entered via a hidden door in the library - sounds like Cluedo might have had an influence in this myth hahaha.  Anyway I did not want to do a beast, a dragon or even the Green Lady so I played on the challenge theme words a bit and used the word 'Legend' - where I live in the UK is very close to Holy Island, Bamburgh Castle and the Farne Islands, all very old areas of habitation - Holy Island - In 635AD Saint Aidan came from Iona and chose to found his monastery on The Holy Island of Lindisfarne. The Christian message flourished here and spread throughout the world.  Bamburgh - was the seat of the former Kings of Northumbria, the castle has been used in many films too (but not Harry Potter, that was Alnwick Castle which is about 30 miles away), and finally The Farne Islands  are possibly the most exciting seabird colony in England with unrivalled views of 23 species, including around 43,000 pairs of puffin.  The costal area here is beautiful but some areas are treacherous, we have lots of lighthouses to guide ships away from the rocks that can't be seen and one of those lighthouses (Longstone) is on one of the Farne Islands.  Grace was born on 24th November 1815 at Bamburgh, Northumberland and spent her youth in two lighthouses (Brownsman and Longstone) where her father, William, was the keeper. In the early hours of the 7th September 1838, Grace, looking out from an upstairs window of the Longstone Lighthouse on the Farne Islands, spotted the wreck and survivors of the Forfarshire on Big Harcar, a low rocky outcrop. The Forfarshire had foundered on the rocks and broken in half; one of the halves had sunk during the night.  Amidst tempestuous waves and gale force winds there followed an amazing rescue of the survivors. Grace Darling played a huge part in this rescue with her father, rowing a wooden boat out into the rough seas to find survivors - you can read the full story here if you are interested.  Grace darling is a true hero, a true legend in my book so I decided to use some free to used images to create this trivet in pyrography.  The images were placed into Photoshop and manipulated until I liked the layout, I then printed the image in reverse and transferred it to my wood piece using acetone.  From there it was out with the pyrography iron and get to burning the wood.  I finished off by stamping then wood burning a few birds.

Challenges entered:-

• Challenge Up Your Life M - November - #117 - Black/White + 1 Color
• Just Us Girls W - #513 - Anything But A Card
• A Place To Start M, 1st Mon) - October - CAFFEINATED TONES

Katy the Cat Lady

The image used for this card is Katy The Cat Lady by Dr. Digi House of Stamps.

We have to gorgeous cats, Russian Blues and such gentle natures and so calm too.  They are brother and sister, the boy is call Jeeves and the wee girl is called Bree.  So many of my friends have pussy cats, often it seems, a house full lol so the term Crazy Cat Lady often floats about hahaha.  When I saw this digi the crazy cat lady was just about all I could think about.

For this card I designed the text in Ilustrator and saved it as an .svg file which I then imported into Sure Cuts A Lot.  I love the versatility of creating my own die cuts this way as I can achieve the proportions etc. that I want.  I know many folks design their cutting files directly in SCAL etc. but I fund the software a bit cumbersome to use and my way works for me lol.   I coloured the image with Copics and fussy cut her then added to the die cut circles/text layer.  The background was created by rubber stamping cat images and for the centre circle behind the digi I also added embossing for a bit of texture.

I am entering this card in the following challenges : -

• Show us Your Pussies - M, Cat Only Challenge-  November -  Furrything Goes
• 2 Crafty Critter Crazies (M, P1, E5, must have a critter) #32 - Anything Goes with a Critter
• Tinker- Dream (M, P15) #82 - Favourite Animal

Mama Puss

IKEsWORLD

Challenge 126
Kindness

Welcome back to the IKEsWORLD challenges :)  do pop on over to IKEsWORLD to join in the challenge, it is always so much fun and  Ike produces the most amazing stamps, everything from off the wall to cute and fluffy :) :) :)

Kindness to me is doing something for somebody else without being asked, it need not cost anything but your thinking or your time as so for me one of the most perfect acts of kindness is to give a hug.  A hug says so much, it says you care, it says you are there for somebody, it says you are not alone.  In keeping with the kindness theme I have used this super cute huggable image by Ike called Mama Puss.  The background was created with Distress Oxides (I had already printed the image so a bit of an experiment here to see if I could cover up the oxides without masking the image), and then stencilled again with oxides.  Next I coloured the image with Ice Grey Promarkers - 1, 2, 3, 4, & 5, no they did not cover over the oxides and I didn't expect them too :) and finally the image was finished off with Polychromes, yep they worked a treat.  My thinking cap and measuring skills were then put to work, placing the HUGS text for the eclipse card.  As I don't have the large dies so many use for these cards I just used my die cutter hence the measuring to make sure the cutting happened in the right place or it was off to the bin and start again.  That old rule, measure twice cut once was well in play here, in fact it was measure 4 time, move a bit this way, think ahead had I missed anything, shoot - yes - I forgot to set the orientation on my die cutter (and I had started cutting - thankfully I caught this before the blade did its work and pressed the pause button then cancelled the cutting) - second time round and all went perfectly to plan so I was rather pleased with myself.  The letters once cut were added to the card using foam tape for that bit of dimension that often brings cards to life.

Ingredients:-

• image - Mama Puss by IKEsART
• colouring medium - Distress Oxides, Promarkers, Polychromes
• other items - Sheena Douglas stencil

I am entering this project into the following challenges:-