Animals at My Mum's Craft Shop

This week it's the My Mum's Craft Shop DT's job to show off their furry, or feathered.. or.. bald (if it's an Eagle.. or mole) stamps in the form of ANIMALS!! 

Of course this was the perfect opportunity for me to use my new stamp set from Paper Smooches.

Woofers and Tweeters

I used the adorable fluffy dog, along with the bowl and bone. I coloured them up with my ProMarkers. Really quick and easy to do. I think we sometimes forget that we don't always need to colour in complex images with our alcohol markers - they work beautifully for more simple images too as they lay down a nice, even coverage. 

I used a slice of paper from Echo Park Here and Now collection and stamped the little heart from the stamp set along the top of the patterned paper in some coloured dye inks.

That's all I got for ya today! Be sure to stop by the blog to see the other girls amazing animals creations.. and the SHOP which is always being stocked with new product!! xx

You Bloo + Uno

.. heh. Went a little stoopid with the title. Tryna throw you off track.

NEW CHALLENGE over at Passion for ProMarkers!!

Our very own Lisa has chosen Blue + ONE other colour. Hit me!!

I had to go with blue and green. HAD TO!! If you're struggling why not take a look at the inspiration over at the Passion for ProMarkers blog. Those ladies have got TALENT!!

I decided I'd go for an A6 size card for a change, as I seem to be drifting towards larger 6x6 cards lately. The Greeting Farm image are perfect for both size cards depending on how you cut and place them. Anywho, this is the gorgeous Gracie, I believe she is a Wild Sprout. I've coloured her up with my ProMarkers and FlexMarkers to match my papers from My Minds Eye. 

I've kept the layout of the card pretty simple. I added a relatively busy floral patterned paper to the kraft card base and built it up from there. Some green diagonal striped patterned paper under my image panel to pull in the green and a gorgeous circle sentiment from Kraftin' Kimmie which I've layered on top of a mini doily die from MFT. Such fun.

Which colour are you going to team up with blue?! I'd love, LOVE to see a blue and yellow combo!! Alongside purple, yellow is another hard colour for me. I cannot seem to find a combo that either isn't massively bright and harsh or too muted and pastel to see any definition!! Hit me with some ideas girls!!

Out. xo

My Mum's Craft Shop Inspiration

 Good morning, GOOD MORNING! :)

Bright and breezy Wednesday. Thunderstorms all over the place. Hah.

It has been fantastic.

I had a brilliant start to the week. I had my first embalming class on Monday night. Holy, moley, it's gonna be a LOT of work, but I am SO looking forward to it!! I already have my teeth stuck right in. I was at a hospital appointment with my Mam yesterday and I took my first bit of work along and was making notes while sitting in the waiting room. Heh. Love it.

Anywho, I'm sure you'll here my waffle on some more about this all in future posts so strap yourself in for a roller coaster of emotions.

Today it's my turn to share some inspiration for My Mum's Craft Shop. I decided to use a bunch of my new My Favorite Things stamps and dies to create this CAS card. 

So I started by die cutting some white card stock with the Die-namics Wildflowers die and then stamping the Peaceful Wildflowers stamps using some marker pens. I allowed the ink to sit on the stamp for a little longer than usual, and then huffed on them. It produced a slightly.. watercolour look? Love it! :)

I stamped a sentiment from the stamp set onto some green cardstock and added some natural hemp cord to the two edges and laytered it over the top of the flowers. As for the kraft backdrop, I stamped the gorgeous woodgrain border pattern from Western Backgrounds in a kraft ink onto some kraft card. Using Versamark would give you the same effect.

Lastly, I added some gorgeous, bright, orange patterned paper from Echo Park as a backdrop to the rest of the CAS design. :)

That's all from me today. Thank you for stopping by. xo

Summer at My Mum's Craft Shop

Good morning you beautiful people. It's my turn to hit you all up with some SUMMER inspiration for My Mum's Craft Shop today!!

What's your take on summer? Long days spent in the garden or down the beach? Reading a book or pottering around the garden? Mine, is the sky. I love just sitting back, relaxing, wherever I am and just taking in the big blue sky. It blows my mind every time, and always reminds me of how small we really are!! The sun? Not so much a fan. I'm more of a winter person, but I do appreciate the summer, it makes my greenhouse grow. :)

So I decided to take this as an opportunity to start practicing my sky. You seen me use dye inks with a stencil to create clouds in yesterdays post, which I've been doing for a long while, but I thought it was well past due for my ProMarkers and FlexMarkers to get a look in on backgrounds. It's not like there is a lack of tutorials out there, so I thought I'd give it a go.

I'll be the first to admit that my clouds are a little.. flat.. kinda like the giant from (Jack and the Giant Beanstalk, obviously) has been sitting on them. Hah. It's alright for a first attempt though. I will definitely be working on the shape of them. I want them looking more fluffy but still more cartoon like rather than realistic. 

So as for my supplies, this is the gorgeous Summer (aptly named) from the Wild Sprouts over at The Greeting Farm, and I've coloured her up with my ProMarkers and FlexMarkers to match papers from Echo Park - Here and Now collection. I added a banner across the top which I've die cut from more of the patterned paper using a C.C Designs die which Kitty will order in for you no problem.

So I'll keep you posted on my cloud adventure! LOL. Head over to the My Mum's Craft Shop Blog and see what the other ladies have been posting for our SUMMER theme this week. Oh, and don't forget to join in with our Monthly Challenge for your chance to win a MMCS Voucher.

I'd like to enter this card into these challenges:
Anything Goes - Anything Goes
Creative Card Crew - The Great Outdoors

TGF Farm Fresh Friday - Punches or Dies
C is for Challenge - #2 Summer

Out. xo

Create a Scene

Yoohoo!! New Tuesday, new challenge over at Passion for ProMarkers. I'm host this week, so I've gone all out in creating both a card and a little tutorial for you all. I'm good to you, I know.

So the challenge this week is to..

CREATE A SCENE

I wanna see your image grounded, whether it be on grass, concrete, wood flooring, patio.. with 'stuff' around them, whether it be clouds, buildings, walls, fences. HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST GUYS!!

Here's what I created using the cutie pie Sweet Treat Wryn from Tiddly Inks. I coloured her up to match my papers from Carta Bella. Such fun, summery, beachy papers. Can't wait to use these some more. I've layered up an Amy R sentiment and a Whimsy Postmark circle. Loads of buttons, liquid pearls, brads and some vellum swirls.

As part of the grounding for the image I used some stamps from Some Odd Girl. Some waves stamped in Island Indigo and some little shells which I've coloured to match the rest of the card. If I'd had my head screwed on that day (which is a rarity in its self) I'd have thought on to use the cute little Beach Accessories from Tiddly Inks to create the grounding. Never mind, plenty more summer makes in the pipeline, I'm sure.

.. and now for my most asked for CLOUD TUTORIAL that I've been using for well over a year now. There are about TWO steps to this.. well three if you're just starting out and need to cut your template.

First. Create yourself a little template. Draw out a bumpy, scalloped.. cloudy looking line, and cut it out. Try to make the cuts as smooth as possible.

Second, gather your supplies. You'll need your image, your stencil, a dye based ink, like Memnto Summer Sky, or SU! Bashful Blue, and a sponge with which to apply it.

Starting at the top of your image panel, lay your stencil down how you like it.. and start a-sponging.

I'd add here that.. if at times of the year when you want more dark, moody sky with more depth.. like Halloween, you could lay down a light purple like Perfect Plum from SU! closest to the stencil and blend it out with more of the blue ontop. Very cool look. I'm yet to try out a sunset/ sunrise looking combo. I'll keep you updated.

Continue moving the stencil down the page until you reach the horizon point. Move your stencil to the left and right and tilt it slightly to get a little more variation within the cloud shapes.

Dah- daaaaaah!

I hope that helps you out a bit. It really is that simple!! You can make your cloud shapes more cartoony or more realistic and large. It's entirely up to you and what kinda look you're going for.

Head over to the Passion for ProMarkers blog now, check out the prize and the other inspiration to help you CREATE A SCENE. Can't wait to see what you come up with. xo

Bad to WORSE!

My. Word.WHAT A BLOODY DAY!!

It has literally gone from bad to worse from the moment I woke up. Although some good has come of it, I wish I had just stayed in bed.

Anywho, I came on to share a card with you all, but thought I'd have a moan at the same time too.

So last night I discovered that my printer won't print BLACK and WHITE when then COLOUR cartridge is empty. Absolute nightmare. So until I can afford, or.. justify spending almost £25 to buy a colour cartridge to print out my BLACK digis, I shall be using all of those digis I printed off and filed in a time of prosperity LMAO!! I guess those stamps and Memento won't come in wrong either.

Then, I sat down to finish off my last order for this month and BOOM, my Making Memories Slice machine won't turn on! I've had it on charge almost all day and it still isn't playing, so it can't be that it's dead. It must have something to do with the battery. Meh, I dunno. I feel like just selling the cartridges and being done with it! Bloody nightmare. So, the awesome plan I had in my head for the card, ain't happening. Not to worry, onwards. 

.. some of my FlexMarkers have been giving me jib. Some of the nibs are either all fluffy, even though they have plenty of ink in them, or they have chunks out of the tip, so I can't get a precision line like I'd like. 

.. oh, and to top it all off, I just realised I'm using up my last roll of DST. Yip. 

Best make the most of these cards boys and girls, because I don't know how much longer I can keep going with this crap! LMAO!

So I thought I'd share another Time for Tea Designs card with a new release for this month. So this is the fun Giant IceCream which is available from Etsy. I've coloured her up to match some papers from My Minds Eye. I've added some Glossy Accents to her sunglasses for a fun touch. I created my own little pinwheel from some yellow felt. The sentiments are from Whimsy and Amy R stamps. 

So after being in a fettle with myself for most of the day I decided to rip some stuff apart and get some things sold. I've sorted almost 100 DVD's and games for Music Magpie, and I've listed a few bits and bobs on eBay. Let's see how they go. I need money people!!

For anyone who doesn't follow me on FB I have decided to take the plunge and start the embalmers course I've wanted to do since leaving school.. and let me tell ya, it ain't cheap! Donations my way, please! LOL.

I feel a little better now I've got all that off my chest. If you've got this far, thank you for listening!!

Out. xo

My Mum's Craft Shop Inspiration

It's my turn to fill you with some inpsiration today using products from My Mum's Craft Shop.

I had a graduate card to make, and I thought Graduation Luka from La La Land Crafts would do the job! I coloured him up using ProMarkers to match my papers from My Minds Eye Remarkable 6x6 pack.

I've stamped the sentiment which comes in the stamp set in blue ink onto a Die-namics Oval Tab Die. I kept the card pretty simple, as it's for a boy, and added a few embellishments in the form of some punched stars, liquid pearls and some buttons which I've sewn onto the card with twine.

That's all I got for ya today! Enjoy your Wednesday. xo

Think Happy Thoughts

Just checking in with you all to share a card using one of the new digis from Time for Tea Designs for the month of July. Love this girl. The flowing hair and the midi skirt are perfect for summer. There are four more releases this month and I'll be bring you another card using a different one later on in the week, you can find them all in Joanna's Etsy shop.

This lady is Beach Girl. I've coloured her using ProMarkers to match my papers from My Minds Eye. I've kept the card pretty simple, as I wanted to join in with the Sketch Saturday challenge today. 

I've added a sentiment from Amy R Stamps which I stamped onto a scalloped circle and then die cut a mini doily from MFT to layer underneath. Hmm.. I added a SMASH tab to the right hand side, as I tilted the sketch and needed something for that top right corner. I kept the rest of the card pretty simple, as the papers are quite bizzy, and left it at some gemstones and brads. :)

That's it from me for tonight. I'm off to do some stamping! :) xo

Toppers at My Mum's Craft Shop

This week the DT girls have been showcasing the toppers and pre-coloured images that are available in the shop - you can check them out HERE.

I thought I'd use the Gorjuss - I Love You Little Rabbit Mini Decoupage pack on a pretty simple card.

Simple, and clean.. and less fuss is gonna be the way forward with me for the most part from now on. You'll get to find out why in due course. ;) Shhh!! LOL!!

I created a Kraft cardbase and embossed another layer of craft with a woodgrain embossing folder from Sizzix to give it some texture. I added some Frayed Burlap Distress Ink  to the edges and the embossed areas and added my framed Gorjuss Girl to the top. Simples.

I used 2mm foam dots between her layers, so this card is quite dimensional, but I love the look. Why I've taken so long to get some of these packs?! LOL! Oh, I added a My Favourite Things sentiment to the little tab die cut you receive as part of the pack too and some Hobby House Pearl Hearts here and there to create a visual triangle. 

.. and that was that.

I do hope you enjoy. Peace. xo

Tick Tock.. Tick.. T..ock

Time for a new challenge over at Passion for ProMarkers today! :)

It seems like an age since I caught up with everyone. These summer months take more out of my than I though. I'm never really in the house long enough, so apologies to all of you who usually receive comments from me on your blog - I just haven't been around!!

Anywho, this week the challenge set by Julie is TIME!

We wanna see you use a clock, or a 'time' image, or a sentiment which includes time. Any which way you can think of to incorporate the theme, we wanna see it! :)

I was very sneaky with my creation this week. I used a little clock image from 7Gypsies and added it to the two corners of my image panel! I didn't want it to be too obvious.

Neither me nor my friends can believe that our friends little girl in one already, so I thought the little subtle clock would be the perfect touch for her 1st birthday card. 

I used Princess No.3 from The Greeting Farm and tried out the whole 'No Lines' technique. To be fair, it wasn't as scary as I thought it'd be - choosing a more simplistic image with large areas to colour helps. :) The hardest part was drawing in the details on the face! LOL! I'd recommend doing that before you even start your colouring, else you're all on edge about it!

I've added a die cut 1 and a postage stamp from Whimsy Stamps underneath. I added Isabelles name to the top left using Lawn Fawn alpha stamps and an Xcut die. Some Doodlebug brads, Stickles, Liquid Pearls and a couple of buttons finishes off the embellishment.

Thanks for stopping by. xo

Girly Girls

Good morning Britain!! It's month seven of 2013 and I cannot quite believe it. Nip and a punch for the first of the month. The first day of the month also brings about a brand new challenge over at My Mum's Craft Shop too.. and just to add to my list of firsts today, this is my first official post as a MMCS DT Member. Yeppo!! Brilliant. :] I cannot wait to get started. 

So the challenge this month is quite easy.. if you're into pink and girly things..

JUST FOR THE GIRLS

Naturally I found this one a little more difficult, so I went floral. I'm good with floral.. not so much with pink.. but I challenged myself, and I quite like the results.

I used the gorgeous Pretty Poppies stamp set and matching dies from My Favorite Things. I used a bunch of Memento ink to stamp the flowers and leaves and added the sentiment in a bold black ink to make it pop. 

I was originally only wanting to make one card, but I ended up die cutting a whole bunch of the leaves, flowers and buds, so I thought while I had everything out I may as well create a second card. I kept them both pretty clean and added a little bow to the right hand card using some Natural Hemp Cord in White. For a finishing touch I added some gemstones to the centre of the (pink, I know..) Poppies, and there are a whole load of different ones to choose from in the shop. 

I do hope you join in with us this month. If you're short on inspiration, be sure to head over to the blog as the DT have got a lot of gorgeous stuff to share with you all.

How'd I do? LOL!! Enjoy your day. xo