Show or Bin?

We were having a conversation on the Charmed forum the other day about projects that you just can't get right. I suggested that there should be a song for crafters called "Rip it off and start all over again" and this card is one such example. Took me ages yesterday to colour in and cut out etc and I am just not happy with it. It was a toss between binning or showing but in view of time spent I'm showing ;-) Do you bin or show??

Holly & Madison downloads coloured with Copics. Basic Gre Ambrosia papers and brads, Prima flowers.

TFL xxx

Spring has Sprung

It really has, not just on my card. It's such a gorgeous sunny day today, no-one would ever think it was thick snow and utter chaos out there just a few weeks ago. So what am I doing on this glorious day? Making cards!!Yep, it's my second post of the day, I'm blogging like the clappers!!!!!

This card was inspired by the challenge on Cute Card Thursday. The challenge there was to featured something spring-like on the card, the theme was "Signs of Spring" - This could be interpreted through your image, an embellishment or even your colour-scheme.

So here we go, my take on that challenge:

Another gorgeous image from the Holly & Madison download bundle coloured in with my Copics. The background is a mixture of Copics and Distress Inks (I have yet to get my airbrush system out of the box, quite scary that!).

Copics used are: N1, B14, RV01, B00, G07,G12, G14, G05, G99, E00, R32, E11, E31, E33, E37, E13, E35, YO6, Y17, Y15, YR02, YR04, YR07, YR09, YR23, YR24.

Thanks for visiting xxx

Challenges... and want some free Copics??

Woohoo! This is the third challenge card I am blogging in a week! It's my new Copic's, they are screaming out to me to be used. Did I tell you I purchased a second set? And listen to this, Charmed Cards & Crafts (my shop) and Graphics Direct (absolute best place for Copics) have come together to enable one lucky person to get a set of 72 pens FREE OF CHARGE! Wow eh? Thought that would get your interest!! Watch this space for further news.

So back to the challenges. This one is from a Spoon Full of Sugar and involved a sketch, this is my interpretation:

Madison image from the fabulous Holly & Madison download bundle. Frame and umbrella were cut on my Silhouette. Maya Road chipboard flowers, I coloured the larger one with my Copics and the smaller one I covered in coordinating Basic Grey paper. All paper here is Basic Grey Ambrosia.

The copics used for colouring in my image are: R32, R37, R39, BG11, BG13, BG15, BG45, BG49, Y8, Y11, Y13, N1, E00, E11, R20

Oh and pop over to Dottie's World tomorrow for a FREE Holly download image!

Thanks for looking xxx

Basic Grey Challenge - Hearts

I don't do much crafting, limiting myself really only to the one DT card for Dottie's World every Sunday, so I thought I would make myself craft more, especially now I've spent the equivalent of two months' mortgage money on my Copic Sketch pens!! I never have time to craft, well doing these challenges should MAKE me take that time, whether I have it or now; lets see if it works out like that LOL

The challenge on the Basic Grey Challenge blog was "Hearts": "it can be any size and any quantity of hearts you wish, and also not forgetting to use at least one item from BasicGrey somewhere on your creation". As Valentine has been and gone I didn't want to make this too lovey dovey.

I cut the heart on my Silhouette and used the cut-out separately. The pop-out flowers are also cut on the Silhouette. Rachel Miller image coloured in with my new Copics. Basic Grey Blush paper for the main card, then Basic Grey Ambrosia paper for the flowers and Basic Grey Urban Couture ribbon (striped). Plus the brads are all Basic Grey too.

Thanks for visiting my little corner of the web :-)

xx

Grungy Birthday....

I have always been an earthy kinda gal and so happy that the grungy, shabby chic look is now in fashion. Grungy and shabby to me doesn't imply old and tattered, it's earthy colours, distressed edges and lots of Tim Holtz inks ;-)

So I used some of the gorgeous papers from Basic Grey on this birthday card I made for Nicola, DT member on Dottie's World - this card has to double up as my Monday Mojo submission on DW as I am so short on time these days.

Image is Madison 3-in-1 from the Holly & Madison Downloads, coloured in with my new Copics'. Papers are from various Basic Grey collections: Color Me Silly, Mellow and Ambrosia.

The swirl is a plain Rusty Pickle chipboard swirl that I coloured in two coordinate with Madison's clothing. K&Co Cut 'n Paste border.

Bazzil flowers, Woodware Pearls, Hot Off The Press Brads, H&Co "Hooray" chipboard.

TFL
xxx

A Stitch in TIme.....

Stitching has become all the rage and it does look rather splendid on paper projects. I have a sewing machine but have yet to get it out, so far all my stitching has been done by hand. This example is no exception, I thought about using the machine but then decided that I wanted something a little more funky.

My stitching dilemma was caused by the challenge set by the lovely Adele on Dottie's World today: "A Stitch in time". Adele wanted to see some stitching on our projects.

I had to use my absolute favourite download collection from Louise Brigden (available here) and my brand new Copic Sketch markers.

I experimented with the colouring here and not too sure if that contour shading works too well, but I enjoyed it IMMENSELY!

The card is meant to be for a teenager, the tape measure is marked on the '1' and '6', the intention there being to symbolise a 16th birthday.

Bo Bunny paper from the Flirty range (available here). I used some K&Co rub-ons and the new Cut 'n Paste ephemera, which I totally love.

I also used my Nestability dies plus a Cuttlebug embossing folder and Distress Inks. Pop over to Dottie's World and see the glorious examples from the other DT members :-)


TFL xxx

Copic Challenge and Girl at Work

There is a new challenge blog on the block, this one is dedicated to Copic markers. Now as it happens I have just bought some Copic's, they arrived on Thursday, so of course I am taking every opportunity to have a play.

Oh that reminds me, the Copic markers are VERY expensive, we don't stock them at Charmed but we do stock the Marvy Le Plume Markers, which are a very good substitute. We are giving a set away on the Charmed Craft Talk forum so why not join our challenge there, click here to see that challenge.

Back to the Copic challenge. The challenge involves using a set set of colours, this time is was:


B28 - Royal Blue
V06 - Lavender
YR07 - Cadmium Orange

Funny colour combination but I had a go. Don't forget please that I am still very much a novice with these markers.

Holly at Work from the Holly & Madison download bundle. Basic Grey Boxer and K&Co Cut 'n Paste papers, Queen & Co Shamrock Felt Fusion, K&Co die-cuts, rub-on and border, plus various bits and bobs. Everything is of course available at Charmed Cards & Crafts.

Finally, I have eaten so much chocolate today that I feel quite sick. Quite confident however that I shall manage a few more pieces before I got to bed! Happy Valentine's Day :-)

TFL
Karen xx

Valentine #2

Well I don't know about you but I am soooo looking forward to waking up to a pile of cards on the mat, and the constant chime of the doorbell as various florists' pop over with huge bouquets of wonderful flowers! Yup, it's gonna be a fineeeee day!

So that thought put me in the mood for lurve and I created another Valentine's card, again using the fabulous new downloads available right now! I used Basic Grey paper for the background, K&Co Sweet Talk paper from the Mat Pad, I also used K&Co Cut 'n Paste and Lotus Tea Box ephemera (gorgeous!). Madison was coloured in with my Le Plume marker pens and everything was glittered with Stickles, except the chocolate where I used Glossy Accents

........and did I mention that Brad Pitt is coming to dinner tomorrow night? Oh yeah!!!


Karen xxx

Valentine

Have you created your Valentine card yet? You could of course be of the, perfectly rational, opinion that Valentine is a pile of poops, and indeed it has become very commercialised. It is nice though to receive a card from the one you love, telling them how much you care, don't you think? Even nicer of course when it's a handcrafted card.

With this in mind I set the theme of "Lurve" for the Sunday challenge on Dottie's World. Here is my effort.

Products used:

Holly & Madison Image

K&Co Sweet Talk Papers,

K&Co Sweet Talk large fabric brads

K&Co Sweet Talk Be My Valentine Paper Ribbon

K&Co Sweet Talk"Kiss Me" Rub-On & Gems

Queen & Co Felt Frenzy Love

Red Ribbon

Glossy Accent

Red & Black Ink

Tim Holtz Paper Distresser

I coloured the image using Marvy Brushmarkers

TFL

xxx

Yellow/Green AND a Little Recipe

It's February already, that January didn't seem to hang around for long! Been a cold month, let's hope that this new month will be a little warmer (fat chance I fear with the promise of snow!).

Bit of a funny title eh? But it will make sense once I explain; I hope! This week on Dottie's World the challenge was set by the lovely Nicola, this is what she wanted:

Spring is nearly here......so I want to see shades of yellow & green, including a download of course....

Last week on Dottie's World the challenge was set by the equally lovely Juliet:

This week we are working with a Recipe.....

At least 1 Charmed Download

1 Flower - must be handmade!!!

3 Buttons

1 Ribbon

Chuck it all together and add a bit of doodling to finish.

Unfortunately I didn't have time to make that one so this week I have tried to combine the two: Nicola colours with Juliet's recipe.

I used an image from the Back to Front bundle; namely Oh so Pretty Dottie. This really is a fabulous collection where each image has a "front" and a "back". I therefore made a bookmark for the card with a front and a back.

The bookmark is attached to the card with a Basic Grey magnetic snap and detaches very easily. It can of course also be used as a fridge magnet if the recipient prefers.

This is a large card so the bookmark is a good size.

The flowers were made from a sheet of We R Memory Keepers Double-sided Cardstock - Silver Lining Buoyant. I had used the flowers on the paper for something else a while ago and the plain leftover paper was perfect. I drew the flowers, cut them out then doodled on them and distressed the edges. Butttons have been used to decorate. The flowers and leaves have thin florist wire on the back, which allowed me to bend them into position for a more realistic look.







Products used:
Oh so Pretty Dottie
We R Memory Keepers Double-sided Cardstock - Silver Lining Buoyant
Yellow Dotted Cardstock
Green Bazzill for the leaves
Chipboard Frame
Maya Road Velvet Ric Rac
All My Memories Ric Rac
All my Memories Kiwi Green Ribbon
We R Memory Keepers Silver Eyelets
Queen & Co Flower Brads
Ink and Glossy Accent
K&Co Wild Saffron Butterfly
K&Co Berry Sweet Floral Felt Trim
Lil' Davis Clip

Lots of Doodling with various pens.


Everything is of course available at Charmed :-)


TFL
xxxx