Followers

Tuesday 16 September 2014

…girt with golden wings



I have a rather special card today featuring an awesome image I found on deviantART by Scary Rabid Fan Girl called Steampunk Angel.


There are some really talented people on deviantART and some of them are lovely enough to make their images available to download.  I have to say I am pretty pleased with how the image turned out, especially the metallic elements.

I wanted this to be a special card as it is going out to a friend for her 40th birthday so I decided on a fancy parcel card.  Given this isn’t your ordinary flat folded card I am entering it in the current challenge over at 4 Crafty Chicks.  As it is a parcel card I am also entering it in the Noor Design challenge.

The blank space on the base is for a ‘happy birthday’ sentiment, I couldn’t find one in my stash but wanted to get this posted up before I head out on holidays.  I need to buy a sticker or something to have the words pop.  I did find the lovely ‘celebrate’ sentiment and some numbers in my sticker stash that did work for this.  As the card is for a celebration I am entering it in the current Brown Sugar challenge.

I’ve used a lot of embellies on this card to make it extra special.  All of the flowers are from I Am Roses.  I bought a big supply of them all in white so I could colour them up to match my projects.  My plan was to have them the same colour as the angel’s blue dress and the berries the same aged copper but I didn’t have sketch markers to go in my Copic Airgun so I had to settle for Smooch Spritz and Lindy’s Stamp Gang inks.

The theme of the card is very much flying with my angel, butterflies and flying gear so I am entering it in the current challenge over at Inkspirational.  Being flying themed I have a lot of things with wings so I am also entering it in Live and Love Craft’s current challenge.  I couldn’t find a metal butterfly in my stash the right size so I cut some from a Martha Stewart sticker border and layered them up.  I used pearls to add some extra texture and scattered some yellow ones around as all my embellies were fairly aged and the angel’s wings are a bright gold.  Given my pearls I am also linking this up at the Alphabet Challenge.

Now my friend is a fellow Steampunker and this is a Steampunk inspired card from the angel with her metal wings through to the gears and flying paraphernalia.  There’s actually a pair of men flying zeppelins under the die cuts on the base that ended up covered up that also suited the theme.  The current challenge over at I Am Roses calls for Steampunk and a butterfly; I’ve got both covered off and plenty of their gorgeous flowers so I’m also entering this there.

Ingredients:
Copics
Skin E000, E00, E11, E21 (cheeks E02)
Eye E33
Hair E21, E23, E25, E27, E29
Outfit & Wings B91, B93, B95, B97, B99, E08, E33, E35, E47, R05, Y21, Y23, Y26, Y28
Dies, SVGs & Templates etc
Lin & Lene Design ~ Floral Square
Spellbinders Nestabilities ~ Marvelous Squares
Embellishments
Creative Memories Epoxy Stickers
Martha Stewart Stickers ~ Butterfly Border
Prima Junkyard Findings ~ Ship Parts & Steampunk Air
Prima Say it in Crystals ~ Small Swirls Black
Tim Holtz Idea-ology ~ Mini Gears & Sprocket Gears
Inks & Paints etc
Lindy’s Stamp Gang Flat Fabio ~ Tweedle Dee Denim
Lindy’s Stamp Gang Starburst ~ Cocoa Bean Copper
Smooch Spritz ~ Caramel Latte & Navy Twinkle
Tim Holtz Distress Ink ~ Walnut Stain & Weathered Wood
Papers
Stamps
Challenges

Thanks for stopping by!

Monday 15 September 2014

Creative Blog Hop



I’ve been nominated for the creative blog hop by Sandra van Blaricum, who met through the Outlawz.  I used to enter the sketch challenge they run and am now a proud member of the design team where Sandra makes the most wonderful sketches for everyone to play with.  Hop on over to Sandra’s blog to see all her wonderful creations.

Here are my answers to the blog hop questions…

1.   What am I working on?
A Tim Holtz folio collection that I am turning into a scrapbook, I also have a few images on the go.  I colour for relaxation so I usually have a few images I’m working on.

 2.  How does my work differ from others of my genre?
I’m not really sure what genre I’m in, although other people say my style is “grunge”.  I like to mix things up so you’ll see all sorts of styles on my blogs, the images tell me what style I should do from CAS to shabby chic.  I do love Steampunk and metal bits and pieces and flowers.  I’ll also give most things a go at least once and like to try new things.

3. Why do I write/create what I do?
I love having a creative outlet, I have an office job that keeps me very busy so colouring is relaxation.  I also love to put cards together, I adore paper and that love has now extended to embellies and flowers in particular.  A lot of my cards are made with people in mind too, I give them to friends, family and colleagues and love being able to give something handmade and unique.

4. How does my creative process work?
With an image usually, I pretty much print everything at 4” tall as I almost exclusively make 6x6 cards.  Colouring first puts me in a bind at times as I let the image pick its own colours and then find I might not have the right colour papers.  Printing and colouring first also constrains me if I want to die cut and I end up fussy cutting some impossibly detailed images sometimes.  I am useless at layouts so after I’ve coloured my image I go hunting challenge sites for sketches (hence why I’m happy to be on the Outlawz sketch team), I also tend to use challenges to help me embellish my cards.  I find bingo/tic tac toe challenges particularly good for helping me use stash items.  Once I have my sketch and theme/embellie type chosen I then go hunting my enormous stash of paper for the right patterns/colours and my embellies for the right ones to fit the theme/type.  Then it’s just a matter of putting it altogether.

 Now to nominate three people for the Blog Hop:
Corinne is an amazing colourist, does the most gorgeous cards and is just the loveliest person.


Kay is another amazing talent with a dark side, a wonderful person who is also about to become my partner in travelling crime.

Jenny is an awesome colourist and her creations are true works of art, as sweet as she is.





Saturday 6 September 2014

I saw the world. I learnt of new cultures. I flew across an ocean.


There’s an awesome new release of Betty Boos over at Simply B Stamps, the second collection of Bettys Around the World and my first card features the fabulous African Betty.


To make up my card I’ve followed the current challenge over at Sketch n’ Dies, using my trusty Nesties to frame up African Betty.  I did make the centre element bigger to accommodate the image, she was too beautiful not to have centre stage.  I found yellow, orange and brown papers in my stash that to me were just the right palette for an African beauty.  While I thought a distressed edge would look good for evoking rough African grass I decided just one layer of distressing was enough so I only did the base designer paper.  With my distressing I am entering this in the current challenge at A Little Bit Crafty ~ Distress It.  For the floral element on the sketch I wrapped some mulberry flowers around a Magnolia Chandelier Garland, so I’m also entering this in the current flowers challenge at Dream Valley.

My second make is a tag featuring Arabian Betty.


I grew up watching reruns of ‘I Dream of Jeannie’ so I just had to do this image up in shades of pink with blonde hair.  To help put together my tag I played with the Tic Tac Toe board at Creative Knockouts, featuring stamping, a sentiment and both ribbon and twine.  Originally I cut a tag shape using my paper trimmer but getting the layers right was proving difficult especially as I started with a fairly small base and the paper kept slipping.  So I abandoned that and cut one using a layered die from Papertrey Ink and also cut the paper for the sentiment with a Nestie.  Being a magical being I also had to add some sparkle to my Jeannie card using gems.  As I have three die cuts and some sparkle on my tag I’m linking it up over at Scrapbooker PhD.  With I’m also entering my tag in the current challenge at Divas by Design.

My final card features the elegant Egyptian Betty.



I’ve always loved Liz Taylor and this image reminded me of her Cleopatra so that’s the colouring I went with, although I know Cleo wasn’t really alabaster skinned and highly unlikely to have had Liz’s amethyst eyes.  In keeping with the elegant image I stuck with a black and white theme but added in gold for interest and because the Egyptians loved their gold.  With my pop of colour and black and white base I am entering my card in the current challenge at Stampin’ Royalty Challenge.  The layout of my card follows the current sketch over at Sweet Sketch Wednesday 2 and to decorate my card I played Tic Tac Toe over at Fab ‘n’ Funky featuring flowers, ribbons and pearls).

I loved playing with these images, they are super fun to colour and make lovely projects.  You can see more of these fab images over at the SBS blog and also on the DT’s personal blogs, with a full list at the bottom of this post.

Ingredients:
Copics
Skin African Betty E02, E11, E13, E21, E25, E27, (cheeks R32), Arabian & Egyptian Betty E000, E00, E11, E21 (cheeks E02)
Eyes African Betty E23, E29, 0 Arabian Betty BG000, BG05, 0, Egyptian Betty V000, V15, 0
Lips R24, R29, R46
Hair African & Egyptian Betty T4, T6, 100, Arabian Betty Y13, Y15, Y17, Y26
Outfit African Betty V000, V01, V09, V12, V15, V17, Y21, Y23, Y26, Y28, Arabian Betty RV000, RV00, RV02, RV04, RV06, RV09, Egyptian Betty N0, N1, N2, Y21, Y23, Y26, Y28
Chalks & Powders etc
Pink Mica
Dies, SVGs & Templates etc
Spellbinders Nestabilities ~ 5x7 Matting Basics & ATCs
Embellishments
Gems from stash
Magnolia Chandelier Garland ~ Lilac
Mulberry Flowers from stash
Prima Flowers ~ Create Memories
Inks & Paints etc
Tim Holtz Distress Ink ~ Black Soot, Tea Stain, Victorian Velvet, Walnut Stain & Worn Lipstick
Papers
BoBunny Double Dot ~ Gingerbread Vintage
DCWV ~ Far East, Royal Garden & Starburst
Glitz Design Sunshine in My Soul ~ Suns
Kaisercraft Cardstock ~ Liquorice
Kaisercraft Violet Crush ~ Dainty
My Mind’s Eye Notable ~ ‘Silly’ Cheery Paper
Ribbons & Trims etc
Stamps
Challenges
Creative Knockouts #53 ~ Tic Tac Toe (Stamping, Sentiment, Ribbon/Twine) (Arabian Betty)

Divas by Design ~ Tags (Arabian Betty)


 Thanks for stopping by!