We Are No Evil

Hi folks, today I am sharing a candle I have decorated using the We Are No Evil image by Aurora Wings.  I used to decorate loads of candles as gifts for folks but over the years have stopped as I feel real candles are often a fire hazard.  Recently I got hold of some battery operated candles which have a wax finish and have been playing around decorating them in the same way as I used to with wax candles.  I know I can now add more trim etc. as don't need to worry about the fire hazard side of things but for now I am just keeping the decoration simple.

For this candle I coloured the image digitally and then printed on tissue paper.  My first attempt of using tracing paper to hold the wrapper in place while heating up the candle with my heat gun to melt the wax and weld the image to it was not very successful but it worked much better when I used wax paper instead.  Still not perfect as there appears to be a very thin layer of wax between the base of the candle are which holds the battery etc. and this seems to melt very quickly.  I will try a different way in future and add the image to the area above the housing then decorate the base of the candle in a different way.  All in all though I am rather please with how it turned out.

The pics below show the candle from all sides . . .

 

and this is what the candle wrapper looked liked when I printed it and before attached to the candle

I am entering the following challenges :- 

Over The Rainbow

Aurora Wings

Anything Goes #75  

Time for a new challenge at Aurora Wings and this month the theme is Over The Rainbow and I have used the adorable BLEEDING HEART SPRITE DIGITAL STAMP chosen because she has 7 Bleeding Heart petals, one for each colour of the rainbow :)

I recycled the box of Ferrero Rocher chocolates I bought to fill my Christmas cracker project (well sort of recycled as I had to buy another box just to fill this one hahaha) ready to give my daughter for her Birthday.  When looking at the box I loved the moulded design and wondered what it would look like with a background behind it and WOW, I love how it added so much texture and light to the simple rainbow coloured colouring I did with Distress Oxides, so simple and yet so effective.  The sprite was coloured with Promarkers and Prismacolour pencils then fussy cut and added to the front of the box.  A simple flower die cut border finished off the ground she was standing on perfectly.  The final finishing touches of the bow from a scrap bundle of ribbon I bought and a chipboard Happy Birthday sentiment coloured with Promarkers completed this project.

Natasha's birthday has been and gone now and she loved her decorated box and the yummy contents inside :) a great success.

Items Used:-
Images:- 

• Bleeding Heart Digital Stamp

Colouring:-

• Promarkers, Prismacolour pencils, Distress Oxides

Other items:-

•  chipboard sentiment, ribbon, die cut border and chocolate box complete with mouth watering chocolates!!!

Aurora Wings Digital Images Store

I am entering this creation in the following challenges:-

• Stamping Sensations - M, 3E, Winner + Top 3, must use stamp (no pre-colored digis) Stamp must be focal point of project – (March) Somewhere Over the Rainbow
• Just Us Girls W - #477 - Birthday
• Sisterhood of the Snarky Stampers 2W, C10  #129 - D is for Diet (W2 of 2) A DIET OF CHOCOLATE IS THE ONLY WAY TO GO :) 
• Craft-Dee BowZ (M P1, E3, project must have hand-made bow) Anything Goes with a Handmade Bow.
• The Twisted Challenges (M, P1, E3, C10) #9 - Be Thankful/Grateful + use all the colours of the Rainbow
• Kitty Bee Designs - 2W,2E, C10 - No.137  FOOD AND DRINK (W2 of 2) 
• Aud Sentiments Challenge 2W,E5  Must include a sentiment #221 Bingo + Add a Sentiment (W2 of 2) DIE CUT, DIGI STAMP, RIBBON
• I love Promarkers  2W,3E Must use Promarkers, #378 - Anything Goes with option: No Patterned Paper (W2 of 2) 

Gone Crackers

Aurora Wings

Holiday Spirit #74 - Holiday Spirit

Time for a new challenge at Aurora Wings and this month we know you will be in the Holiday Spirit with Christmas just round the corner.

Oh so much fun with this challenge.  I try to make my own crackers each Christmas to give to family either with their gift in the post of with us at lunch time, which ever fits and this was the perfect theme for my crackers this year.  I decided to use 9 of the Christmas Sprites Mitzi has over at the Aurora Wings store, they are just darlings to adorn the crackers aren't they :) :) :) I started by hunting for a cracker die cut template and found a great in Monica's Craft Room which is what I have used.  Monica is a very generous designer who has lots of free cutting files on her site so thank you so very much Monica, you are a superstar.  I made the crackers as big as I could with the template, each on fitting onto a piece of A4 card (similar size to letter) and used cream linen card.  Next I coloured 18 white doilies with gold paint and let them dry while I sorted the printing of the images, adding the sentiment along with the recipients name, sorting the correct size to fit my chosen gold die cut which they will be placed on etc..  Each of the Aurora Wings sprites was coloured using Promarkers in reds and greens (and brown for the reindeer guy) and then it was out with green, gold and red Stickles, I so love my Stickles lol.  With all the colouring done I assembled the crackers, mounted the toppers and used remnants of gold lace stuff to tie the two end sections.  There is no bang in these crackers so you just remove one of the ties and open the cracker box to reveal a wee gift, shhhhhhh don't tell, but this year they will be filled with Ferrero Rocher chocolates, partly because they have gold wrappers but mainly because they are yummy.

and here are some clearer pics of each of the crackers

I will let you into a little secret now, one I feel really bad about.  After all my planning and making sure I had things correct ready for the production line I must have lost the plot.  I had a cracker for everybody and two spare so I decided my lovely fur baby cats could have one each, they won't be getting Ferrero Rocher in theirs but probably a nice salmon stick.  Anyway, back to my little secret.  Crackers made and time to photography, still I did not see the problem.  Then to edit the photos and what do I notice, I have not made a cracker for my best friend, my hubby - how on earth did I make such a huge error and with the crackers having names on I could not hide this from him.  Yep, I feel bad.  Alan's response was he was not bothered (he is not a fan of Christmas) so I think I will buy him a whole box of Ferrero Rocher to say sorry and I know there are to many in a box to fit into a cracker hahaha.  

Items Used:-
Images:- 

• Aurora Wings Store Wine Sprite   Poinsettia Sprite  Holly Sprite  Mistletoe Sprite  Garland Sprite  Christmas Cactus Sprite   Christmas Tree Sprite   Winter Sprite   Reindeer Sprite

• Etsy Store   Wine Sprite  Poinsettia Sprite   Holly Sprite   Mistletoe Sprite   Garland Sprite    Christmas Cactus Sprite   Christmas Tree Sprite    Winter Sprite   Reindeer Sprite

• Die Cut - Monica's Craft Room
• Colouring :- gold paint, Promarkers
• Other items:- Stickles, doilies, gold lace 

Aurora Wings Digital Images Store

I am entering this creation in the following challenges:-

• Christmas with the Cuties - M last Monday, 3E, must be cute Christmas - #22 ANYTHING BUT A CARD (WEEK 2)
• Crafty Cardmakers - 2W, C15 - #223 ANYTHING BUT A CARD (Week 2)
• Dragonfly Journeys - 2W, monthly Nov & Dec, E5 - #130 Handmade Holiday Magic (deadline December 31)
• Crafty Calendar M,3E December -  It's Christmas Time
• Inkspirational 2W,C10  #175 - Anything Christmas Goes (W1 of 2)
• ABC Christmas Challenge M, 1st Wed,- W for Wishes/X for Xmas
• Christmas at Sweet Stampin' M, 2nd Wed, 2E, Anything Goes Christmas
• I love Promarkers  2W,3E Must use Promarkers, #369 - Anything Goes/Option  of Christmas (W1 of 2)

Santa Muerte Mobile Phone Cover

Aurora Wings

Sketch Challenge #72 - Once Upon a Dream or a Nightmare

Time for a new challenge at Aurora Wings and this month we want you to head down the road of dreams or nightmares, how cool is this :)

I spent quite a long time pondering over this challenge, so wanting to use a darker image but my heart always heads towards the more peacefully ones.  In the end the decision was made for me totally by accident.  It was a Friday, not the usual day I visit my mother who has Alzheimers but she was having a very rare lucid couple of days and as these days are so very special as I have my Mum back as she used to be I couldn't let the day pass without a visit.  She lives about 25 miles away and I set off, alas with my mind on other things and by the time I arrived I desperately needed a pee lol. Now it was also a warm day so I did not have a coat on and I don't use handbags as I leave them lying around and forget to pick them up so I had put my mobile phone in my back pocket.  Pretty sure you can guess what happened - plop - no not me but yes, my mobile phone which was not waterproof, decided to dive head first into the loo.  Oh my heart sank, I could only imagine the hassles ahead of me but what to do.  Hand in the loo to grab my phone, took the cover off, gave it a good shake and hoped for the best, I had to now make Mum the priority and enjoy the special moments with her.  A few hours later, with a hot phone that did not want to switch off I headed off home.  Hubby to the rescue and mobile phone had Sim card removed and was then placed in a bag of rice - fingers crossed.  Anyway, to cut a long story shorter the phone worked after a couple of days but the big button at the bottom for closing applications was still dead grrrrr.  What to do, get it repaired - no Apple wanted over £300 for that, buy a reconditioned one, again no, battery problems often found there.  So only other option was to get a new phone.  With that sorted I needed a new case, so many pretty ones out there and then a lightbulb came on, get a clear silicone one and then I can make my own colourings to fit.  So here we are, my 'Nightmare' creation is more ways than one :)  Hope you like.

To make my mobile phone cover I used a template from the Internet for sizing.  I then removed all the background from the .jpg image and created a simple gradient to put behind the image in a colour to match my new phone :) and then added some text.  I have wanted to colour this fab image for a long time but never knew what to put it on but this seemed the perfect project for her, the image is Santa Muerte, a super image with a lot of detail which did make colouring her at this small size a real challenge.  Thank goodness for a good pencil sharpener to keep my Polychromes super sharp.  The scythe was coloured with a copper gel pen and a gold gel pen was used for her earrings but you can't really see that. I completed the image with some glass Stickles and Liquid Pearls and a quick spray of Crafters Companion Spray and Shine.  She is pretty blingy but I have not really managed to catch that with the photograph unfortunately.  Lots of fun with this challenge and I love the outcome, different and so lovely to be able to carry a bit of my colouring around with me.

Items Used:-

• Image:- Santa Muerte by Aurora Wings available from the AW Store here and from Etsy here
• Colouring :- digital background, Polychromes, gel pens
• Other items:- Stickles, Liquid Pearls, 

Aurora Wings Digital Images Store

I am entering this creation in the following challenges:-

• 
  

Dandelion Sprite

Aurora Wings

Sketch Challenge #71 - Inspired By Music

Time for a new challenge at Aurora Wings and this month it is an Inspired By Music challenge.  Think I went a bit overboard with all the music on this card but love the bright happy feel of the end result.  The song I have based this on is 'Dandelion' by P.J. Olsson

Join in the challenge here and have lots of fun :)

I started by covering a white card blank with blue paper.  For the image I removed the background from the .jpg image I have and overlaid her on a music background I made.  The music background has areas removed to give it a bit more character.  I then added the digital text and printed.  I then set to with my Distress Inks to colour the background and for the image I used my Polychromes.  In keeping with the music them a rubber music corner stamp was used and I then embossed the four corners with silver embossing powder. This card layer was mounted on silver card.  Time for some more music and I embossed some yellow vellum with a music embossing folder, this layer then went behind the silver layer and attached to the blue base layer.  Musical note and yellow flower along with a musical note bow completed the project.  Pretty happy with the end result until I came to photograph it and it looked so very flat.  Time for a quick rethink and Flower soft to the rescue and I used this over the yellow vellum, a much better colour and the extra texture was just what this card needed to bring Dandelion Sprite to life :)

Ingredients:-
Image:- Dandelion Sprite by Aurora Wings available from the AW Store here and ETSY here
Colouring:-Polychromes, Distress Inks
Other items:- Flower Soft, music dies, mini flowers coloured with Promarkers, music corner stamp, silver embossing powder

Aurora Wings Digital Images Store

Aurora Wings ETSY Store

I am entering this creation in the following challenges:-

• Pattie's Creations - M, 2E, SIO, include an image (digital or stamped) – SEP - No. 150 - FAIRYTALE / FANTASY
• Polkadoodles - W, C10 - No. 39 - ANYTHING GOES
• QKR Stampede – W, 4E, SIO – No. 315-  ANYTHING GOES
• Back To Basics  2W, E3, #12 - Inky Backgrounds (W2 of 2)
• Sparkle N Sprinkle Creative Challenges (M, P1, must use glitter, EP or flocking) - September - Anything Goes: use loose glitter, embossing powder, and/or flocking

Himalayan Blue Poppy

Aurora Wings

Sketch Challenge #70 - Sketch 

Time for a new challenge at Aurora Wings and this month it is a SKETCH challenge.  So here we go with the sketch we would like you to use and we can't wait to see what you come up with and how you interpret this challenge :) :)

For my DT inspiration to get you in the mood I have used the image Himalayan Blue Poppy available here from Aurora Wings Digital Stamps and also from the Etsy store.

I chose to use the Himalayan Blue Poppy image to decorate the outer side of the circle instead of putting and image in the circle and using other embellishment on the outside.  The image was flipped so it fitted beautifully on the top left of the circle and for the bottom right I removed parts of the image so I was only left with the flowers and reduced the size.  Once that was done I printed the two bits ready for colouring.  Usually I would colour and then fussy cut but this time I was a bit concerned about the fussy cutting so did that first.  Then the fun and games began as seems to be a common trend with me at the moment.  I coloured most of the image but did not like what I had done grrrrr, so printed and cut again ready for a second round of colouring.  Now the second attempt was much better and I was half way through it when I got sidetracked and started thinking about the background.  My plan was to rubber stamp a poppy background in colours to match what I was using (fatal mistake).  I hunted through my stamp inks, nothing suitable there, Promarkers possibly but not what I wanted then I remembered I had some Aqua Tints from Crafters Companion and there I found the perfect colour.  Time to play and see what I could come up with and my stupid hand knocked over the bottle of ink and I think you can guess where it went, all over the half coloured image which I had not moved out the way - I could have cried.  Time to leave the craft room after wiping up all the spilt ink before I did something else rather stupid.  I left things for a couple of days and rethought what to do with the background - that ink went back in the drawer and won't be seeing the light of day for a wee while hahaha.  I ended up using a poppy design paper which I converted to greyscale in Photoshop and then overlaid a colour I thought would work well, hurray, got it pretty good first time.  Next was to print and fussy cut the image for the third time and get the colouring done.  All going well so far so fingers crossed it would continue and it did, no more accidents.  The images were coloured with Polychromes and completed with Liquid Pearls in the centre of each of the flowers then a blast of Crafters Companion Spray and Shine to give a nice sheen. To finish off the card I die cut a background flower die I have and trimmed it to size to fit behind the inner circle, lace was added to the top background poppy layer and this was mounted on dark maroon, then cream vellum and added to the card base.  Behind the image I added some maroon dried leaves, pearl sprays and a glass bead spray.  Finally I stamped the sentiment and added a wee pearl bow to complete this project.

Aurora Wings Digital Images Store

I am entering this creation in the following challenges:-

• Just Us Girls W - #456 - Celebrate
• Always Happy Birthday (M, P1, E4, must be birthday)- September - Birthday
• Creations in Pink (M, P15, E3, mostly pink) #1 - Anything Goes in Pink
• Digi Doodle Studios Challenge Blog (M, P1, E3, must have hand coloured image) - #9 - Mythical/Magical
• Digistamps 4 Joy (M, P1, E3, SIO) #152 - Anything Goes + optional : Flower Frenzy
• Alphabet Challenge - 2W, 1E - I L IS FOR LEAFS  (W1 of 2)
• Brown Sugar – M (First Friday of M), E2 - AUG - No. 281 - FAIRIES AND FANTASIES
• Just Add Ink – W- No. 424 - TEXTURE*
• Cardz 4 Galz 2W,3E #79 Beautiful Backgrounds (W1 of 2)

Rite of Spring

Today is such an exciting day for me, it has been so hard to keep quiet for the last few weeks but today I can announce I am now part of the Aurora Wings DT.  I have followed Mitzi Sato-Wiuff and her wonderful digital images since 2012 when I found them on a Google search, no doubt for fairies :) :) At that time I found 12 images for sale and bought them all.  They were certainly daunting  to colour with all the detail but were exactly what I was looking for.  When the Aurora Wings challenges started way back in March 2014 I managed start playing along with the challenges, my first entry was in the April Monochromatic challenge and since then I have played along with the Aurora Wings challenges whenever I have been able to.  Life was busy at the time (now hubby and I are newly retired) so I did not ever dare to apply to be on the DT, Mitzi's images deserve the best I can do and when work etc. have to take priority over colouring I could not commit to this.  I eventually plucked up the courage to apply during the last DT call but alas did not make the team.  Sad heart but I told myself, as I always do, everything happens for a reason and if something is meant to happen it will in its own time - and now it has happened :) :) :) Happy dancing here and so very proud to be part of this awesome DT, thank you Mitzi and Donna for having me xxx

So here is my first creation as part of the Aurora Wings DT :-

Aurora Wings

Challenge #69 - Anything Goes 

For this creation I have used a shadow box to make a picture for my Mum's 87th birthday.  She does not want anything bought so what can be better than to make up something that I know she will love in her favourite colours.  The image I chose to use was from the original 12 I purchased back in 2014 - Rite of Spring.

I printed the image as large as I could on A4 stamping card and used Distress Inks to colour the background.  The image was coloured with Prismacolour Pencils, purple and blue fine liner pens, Stickles and Liquid Pearls were used to add further detail and the bit of bling I love to add to these images.

With this being a shadow box I needed to add something in for foreground and that really had to be a spray of flowers.  Usually I make my flowers out of paper or light weight card but they never have that soft look real flowers have so this time I did a bit of research to see what other materials would work.  Hard to believe but it seems coffee filters were ideal so hubby when and got me some.  Bummer, he came back with brown ones and that was just no good.  All I had at hand in the house was kitchen towel so I opted to try that.  Not great as the flowers are very flimsy but a good experiment.  Each flower has 60 petals hahahaha, and after cutting I wet each petal and dipped in blue ink.

These flowers turned out much larger than I had anticipated so only needed one for the shadow box so decided to use the remaining two for a tag to go with the picture.  I also cut some rose leaves and coloured them in pinky purples to match the image and three peacock feathers, again coloured to match the image.  The tag was coloured using the same Distress Inks and I used a foiling die to add the Birthday Wishes sentiment in sky blue foil.  All done, now just to wrap this up and give it to my Mum on Wednesday when I see her :)

Items used :-

image - Rite of Spring by Mitzi Sato-Wiuff /Aurora Wings

colouring - Distress Inks, Prismacolour Pencils, fineliners

extra items - Stickles, Liquid Pearls, peacock feather die, leaves and flower die by Spellbinders

Aurora Wings Digital Images Store

I am entering this creation in the following challenges:-

• 613 Avenue Create - M (1st Sunday), 8E, Any Craft Accepted (check for recognition each week, top DT choices, winners, and crafter's voting by on-line community) - #211 (July) Anything Goes w/Optional Twist: Create your own Designer Paper
• Dare 2B Artzy Challenges - M, 1st Sunday, E3 - (July) Birthday
• Stamping Sensations - M, 3E, Winner + Top 3, must use stamp (no pre-colored digis) Stamp must be focal point of project – (July) In my Garden
• Allsorts  W,3E  - #476/477 - Flowers All Over
• Crafty Calendar M,3E July - Totally Girly
• Inkspirational 2W,C10  #165 - Birthday (W1 of 2)
• Aud Sentiments Challenge 2W,E5  #207 Flowers + A Sentiment  (W2 of 2)
• Addicted to Stamps and More - W, C10, #300 - Happy Birthday (Not quite a card but a gift and gift tag so hope that still qualifies)
• Craftaholics R Us - W, #28 - Turquoise
• Mod Squad Challenge-1W, 3E, F - Floral

Once Upon A Time with Autumn Mermaid

Such a special post for me as I am the Guest Designer for Aurora Wings Challenge #68, such a privilege.  Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity Mitzi and I hope I have done Autumn Mermaid justice :).

The theme for Challenge #68 is Once Upon A Time, and I have used the children's story "The Little Mermaid" as my inspiration.  You can read a summary of the story here.

I started by printing the image as large as I could on A4 paper and coloured here with Prismacolour pencils for this mixed media creation.  This beautiful mermaid was then fussy cut and set to one side while I tackled the background.  I used a canvas 20x50 c.m. and painted the background with acrylic paint, a first attempt for me (nothing like diving into the deep end lol).  Once painted and at a point I dared not play any more I used some gold stamping ink, a fish shoal stamp and small flower stamp to add some more detail.  When everything was dry I took the fussy cut Autumn Mermaid and sprayed the back with permanent adhesive and stuck her in place on the background.  Think I am going to keep this one but now I have to try and find a place to put her were I can enjoy looking at her :)

Close up of the Autumn Mermaid coloured image

Items used:-
Image:-          Aurora Wings Autumn Mermaid
Colouring:-    Prismacolour pencils, acrylic paints, gold stamp pad
other items:-  acrylic stamps, Stickles, adhesives and acrylic spray varnish

Challenges entered :-

• Crafting from the Heart - W, E3, F - #211 ANYTHING GOES
• Alphabet Challenge - 2W, 1E -  F FOR FISH (W2 of 2)
• Crafting-With-Friends - 2W, 3E - No.69 - ALWAYS ANYTHING GOES (W2 of 2)
• Creative Artiste Challenge - M, E3, C5 -JUNE- No. 39 -  ANYTHING MIXED MEDIA GOES
• Crafting With An Attitude M,1st Thurs,3E Always Anything Goes