Wednesday 29 July 2015

A little colour madness

I'm loving this mixed media stuff.  Thank Aussie Annie and Lizzy Love for inspiring me to give it a go :) 

This is my third Art Journal page.  Onto the blank page I've used some modelling paste and three stencils over the top of a face image I sketched to add some texture.  Fortunately I took this picture because after that I got carried away and forgot to take any more pictures - LOL!

I've only used some acrylic paints, black polychromos pencil and a black artist pen to create this with.  Some of the acrylic has been diluted and one colour allowed to run down the page.  The speckled  mushy effect in the green to the left of the leaves (mushy is probably not an art type word at all - LOL) has been done with a dry sponge.


Once I'd got all the colour on I used the black polychromos pencil to add some extra shading to the hair and black artists pen to ink up the black patches on the modelling paste and some of the words.

And here's a close up of the coloured image I'd sketched

Thanks for dropping by and taking a look
Andrea x

I'd like to enter this Art Journal page into the following challenges
Left of Centre - Use Texture
That Craft Place - Words
Crafty Card Makers and More - Anything But a Card
Create & Inspire - Anything Goes
Crafting by Designs - Anything Goes
613 Avenue Create - Anything Goes
The Mixed Media Month Challenge - Summer


Miss you.....

It's mid way reminder time at the Oddball Art challenge our theme is Die Cuts.  Remember you don't have to use an Oddball Art image to enter, but if you haven't got any or want some more you can use my DT code to get you 10% discount at checkout on Etsy - DTANDREA10.

Soooo.... for my midway reminder inspiration I just happened to have used a die cut ;)  This is a Spellbinders one and I've distressed the edges with Tim Holtz antique lines ink to give it a shabby aged look.

The image I've used from Oddball Art is number 215.  I don't think I've ever made a "miss you" card before and this girl looks just so sad :(

The image has been coloured with ProMarker and Copics.  I've punched a couple of pink hearts out with some left over design paper to compliment the colour scheme.  The "Miss You" sentiment comes with the image and I've fussy cut this out to mount it onto the card.  I've also added some pearl self adhesive gems and a plain wooden heart.  So I've got two lots of three on my card.  Three lots of self adhesive gems and three hearts.

And finally to let you know about my design papers which are Lemoncraft ones.  Apart from the backing paper the others have been distressed then Tim Holtz antique linen ink added to give them a shabby aged look.
Hope you enjoyed my bit of inspiration and hop on over to join us
Andrea x

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges
Crafty Girlz - Anything Goes
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes
The Corrosive Challenge - To Die For
Creative Craft Cottage - Anything Goes
Crafting from the Heart - Anything Goes

A little bit of fire

I originally coloured this image Adele for the colour challenge at Make It Crafty.  I hadn't made her into a card yet so when I saw this sketch from Sandra for the Outlawz Wednesday Sketch challenge I thought here's my opportunity :)

I'd already done one image with black hair and I wanted to try my hand a doing a hot firey red head.  To do this I used ProMarkers a little black biro and white gel pen for the highlights and this was the result.  Obviously she's been sitting in on my desk since May but I cut her out this last week by drawing round the edge of a Spellbinder die. I had to hand cut it because the image was too bit for any of my dies and I didn't want to chop her hair off!
The design papers I used are from Lili of the Valley.  I've also used some golden organza ribbon, some yellow/gold self adhesive gems and some brass looking heart beads which I bought in Hobby Craft.

Yay finally got her on a card, so glad I did :)

Hope you join us this is the last chance this month to get into the draw to win the Make It Crafty.
 prize.
Andrea x

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges
Through The Craft Room Door - Anything Goes
Paradise of Stamps - Anything Goes
The Sisterhood of Crafter - Sumer heat
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes
Digi Galore - Summery / Bright


Tuesday 28 July 2015

Cooking up a little something special

I started working on this one when I was away on holiday in the Lake District a couple of weeks ago.  The canvas has been covered with a large piece of lace from The Ribbon Girl and then I've used some modelling paste and Tim Holtz's bubble stencil.
I usually do wedding stuff in reds but decided to do something in pink for a change.  Here you can see I've added some pink mixed acrylic paint in a couple of shades.

Next I added a mixture of flowers cascading down the card, starting with large ones and getting smaller towards the bottom.  All the flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts, Live & Love Crafts and The Ribbon Girl.

This is another angle so you can see the 3-D effect.


I bought some Prima Shabby chic resin embellishments a while ago from Live & Love Crafts and used the middle one from this set.


The dress I've made was glued and sewn onto the mannequin.  I started off using some white tulle, over the top of this I added a small piece of lace for the top of the dress.  The bottom is made out of a piece of ribbon which looks like it's got large flower petals on it.  Once I'd sewn this onto the tulle I added some vintage seam binding the make up the bodice of the rest of the dress.

After doing all that I looped and tied some pink rose buds into the lace in the bottom of the dress.

Here's a view from another angle so.

The dress was then mounted onto the canvas.  While I was waiting for all this to set/dry I made a tiny bouquet of flowers in pink roses and tied some pink satin ribbon to it.

The image I've used here is from All Dressed Up wedding collection by Wendy Burns.  Here's the link to the Etsy shop and the Facebook Group.  There's a link on the Facebook Group which has the whole wedding collection to download for free.

I've coloured the image with ProMarkers, then cut it out with a Spellbinders die.


The final thing I've added to my canvas is a brass key with some pink satin ribbon looped through it.


This is my first attempt at doing anything like sewing a miniature dress so it probably took me a lot longer than it should - LOL

Andrea x

I'd like to enter this mixed media canvas into the following challenges
Anything but a Card - Anything Goes
That Craft Place - Words
The Corrosive Challenge - To Die For
Artistic Inspirations - Anything Goes
Left of Centre - Use Texture
Crafty Card Makers and More - Anything but a Card
Papertake Weekly - Take Your Pick (Lace)
Crafting from the Heart - Anything Goes

Sunday 26 July 2015

Just a little thank you

I don't have, and haven't done many thank you cards.  I'd love to do more but I don't seem to be able to find the images I need.  This one however is an exception, I thought it was just perfect.  The image is from Di's Digi Designs and is called Hedgehog Popsy Daisy.

I've coloured it with ProMarkers and used a little black polychromos pencil in the hedgehog spines to add some shading.


I wanted to keep the image as the main focus so went clean and simple with this one.  The papers used are black card stock and a piece that looks like a fencing from Panna Olivia - Miss Olivia.

The sentiment coloured with ProMarkers is from a Lili of the Valley Art pad.
Only other thing used are some black and red self adhesive gems.

Andrea x

I's like to enter this card into the following challenges
Stamping Sensations - Feature a Creature
Not Just Cards - Anything Goes
Artistic Inspirations - Anything Goes
Passion for ProMarkers - Flowers
I Love ProMarkers - Clean and Simple


Monochrome shabby fairy

Ching-Chou Kuik does some beautiful images, this one I've used here is a Toadstool Fairy which you can get on Etsy.  This one is a bit different because I decided to do blue hair rather then a "normal" colour to make it a bit more fantasy.  This was the first thing I coloured and I liked it so much I decided do the rest of the image in monochrome to match.  I did this using ProMarkers.

I selected some blue and white flowers to go with the theme which I'd bought from Live & Love Crafts and Wild Orchid Crafts.  I've taken a close up picture of the flowers for you to see.  There's also a tiny silver butterfly bead in this arrangement which I bought off Amazon.  The blue butterfly embellishment is from Lemon Craft.

All the design papers are form Lemon Craft and the sentiment is from Lili of the Valley.  The paper sections, sentiment and image have all been distressed and antique linen distress ink from Tom Holtz used on the edges.  In addition the image and sentiment have also had Tim Holtz shaded lilac distress ink added.  The only other think I've added are some pearl self adhesive gems.


Thanks for stopping by today
Andrea x

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges
Ching-Chou Kuik Facebook Challenge - Shabby Chic
That Craft Place - Words
Allsorts - Add a Butterfly
Come and Get It Challenges - Fairies
613 Avenue Create - Anything Goes / Shabby Chic



Friday 24 July 2015

Waterboy

So a little feedback may be required on this one.  I've tried to create a watery effect with light above and showing some movement of the boy diving under the sea to look at the sea life below - did this work?

The image I've used here is Snorkle Boy by Mo Manning, I can image quite a few boys doing this on their summer holidays.  This image has been coloured in a combination of ProMarkers and Copics.  I had a bit of an ooops moment as I'm not used to my Copic colours yet and one of my aqua pens was a bit bright when I'd got it on he paper.  Thankfully I managed to calm it down by blending it with others - phew thought I was going to have to start again!

Once coloured I cut the image out with a Spellbinders die and mounted it over some crafting gauze/cheesecloth stuff - yeah I know I'm still learning all the terms and I'm not sure what to call this one ;)

Design papers are plain (Lili of the Valley) to create some watery blue backgrounds and I've also used some white card stock.  There are some aqua/blue self adhesive gems and to finish off some swirly leafy looking silver charms, a silver shell and a brass fish charm.

I thought about adding some undersea foliage but through that might make it a bit too girly!

Andrea x

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges
Kraftin Kimmie Wonderful Wednesday - Anything Goes
Papertake Weekly - Build It Up
Inky Chicks - Use Metal Embellishments
Crafting by Designs - Summer Holidays
Crazy Challenge - Monchromatic
Robyn's Fetish - Under the Sea
Crafty Card Makers & More - Water






Pastel hair

This is one of the recent releases from Oddball Art image no 232.  I decided to show you this one for some extra inspiration in case you've missed it.


When I coloured this one I was inspired by Lizzy herself.  I joined her discussion via Facebook re hair colour trends and pastel colours are now all the rage.  If you've not seen her Lizzy has pastel hair so I decided to try it out on one of her images :)

This image has been coloured with ProMarkers and cut out with a Spellbinders die.  Around the edges I've added some pink and blue in the same pastels as I used for the hair.

The pastel hearts were leftovers from when I've been cutting out die banners with my LaLa Land die.  I decided to use four out these around the image.

The backing papers are pain ones from Lili of the Valley in blue and pink to match - I think you can see a theme here ;)

My final embellishments for this very girly card are some tiny paper flowers arranges in a cascade down the right, from Hobby Craft and some organza pink spotted ribbon which you can get from The Ribbon Girl.

I've left the card blank so it can be customised :)

Hope you like my bit of girly inspiration
Andrea x

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges
Your Scrapbook Place - Anything Goes
Creative Moments - Anything Goes/Bingo (Die cut/image/flowers)
Fab n Funky - No Pattered Papers
Passion for ProMarkers - Flowers
Through The Craft Room Door - Anything Goes
Crafty Creations - Four




Wednesday 22 July 2015

CAS Christmas

Yes I succumbed I've given in the all the Christmas in July goings on - but only coz I could colour up Fairy Bear from Make It Crafty.  Tempted as I was to do this in traditional colours I decided to do for pastel blues and browns.  I used ProMarkers to do this :)
I wanted a very simple card to keep him the main focus.  I've used very simple design paper from Srantoro's Gorjuss.  To take off the stark white look I've aded a little distress ink in antique linen at the edges of the image.  Added to this are some blue self adhesive gems and a piece of blue and beige ribbon to add a sentiment.

And that's it folks short and very sweet!
Andrea x

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges
Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge - Anything Goes Christmas
Christmas Cards All Year Round - Dots and Stripes
Live & Love Crafts - Christmas in July
Deep Ocean Challenge - Christmas in July
Crafty Boots - Christmas in July
Cards4Guyz - Christmas in July
I Love ProMarkers - Clean and Simple
Crafting for All Seasons - Christmas in July
Penny's Challenge - Christmas in July

Birthday possibilities

I'm playing around with flower card at the moment.  Partly because the girls at work have cleared me out and also because my mum's asked me to make a card for an aunt.  I'm not sure which one we'll give her but this is one that I've made using a stamp from Make It Crafty.  I bought it before Quixoitic Paperie closed down so you'd have to get it directly from Zoe now.  The stamp is called Magnolias for Mum.
Here's a close up of the image which I've coloured using ProMarkers.  I cut the image out and then used some antique linen ink from Tim Holtz and distressed the edges.

All the design papers are from Lemoncraft.  Apart from the backing piece all the others have been distressed and had antique linen ink applied for an aged feel before layering them up.


The sentiment is also from Lemoncraft as are the butterflies (three of them) which I fussy cut out of their paper.  The final touch are some green self adhesive gems.  Once we decide which card I'm then going to customise it with 70th Birthday :)

Andrea x

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges
Create and Inspire - Anything Goes
Fantasy Stampers - Pretty Petals
Crafting From The Heart - Anything Goes
Passion For ProMarkers - Flowers
Papertake Weekly - Build It Up
Creative Inspirations - Flowers
Left of Centre - Three of A Kind

Aussie Sheila at Outlawz

Here's another image combination for you using Make It Crafty images.  They's sponsoring us over at Outlawz Sketch Team for July - come on over and join us and you could be in with a chance to win some :)

The combination I've used is Aussie Outback Sheila and Australian Outback Farm Road.  I've coloured the image in a combination of ProMarkers and Copics.  The image has been mounted onto some plain black card stock to frame it.

The three design papers are from Lili of the Valley, I chose greens and browns to go with the image background.  I've not added anything red apart from Sheila's shirt and a red heart button as I wanted the image to pop as it's the main focus in this sketch.

The sun metal embellishment was part of a prize I won over at Through The Craft Room Door.
The black swirl embellishments were bought from Hobby Craft ages ago last year when I started crafting cards.

So this is my inspiration for what can be done with some Make It Crafty images
Hope you join us :)
Andrea x

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes
Come and Get It - Combine Two Images
613 Avenue Create - Anything Goes
Digi Choosday - All About The Girl
Through The Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

Tuesday 21 July 2015

A little bit country

I had great trouble finding these stamps in the UK so if anyone can point me in the right direction to find them it would be appreciated.

This one is First Kiss by Sarah Kay which I decided to colour in soft pastels using ProMarkers.  The image has been cut out with a Spellbinders die and edged with pink ProMarker.
Design papers are from Wild Rose Studio and Lili of the Valley.  There's also a bit of pink scrap left over from my stash which I used behind the top layer of blue paper and also for the banner.  The banner was cut using a LaLa Land die.

The sentiment is from a Lili of the Valley art pad and I've also used some pearl self adhesive gems.
Andrea x

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges
Not Just Cards - Anything Goes
Colouring Crazy Challenge (Graph It) - Colour Duos
Crafting From the Heart - Anything Goes
Creative Card Crew - Banner/Flag

Monday 20 July 2015

Pixie Magic

I've had this image for ages and just never got round to colouring it up - now I have - yay!!  This is one from Saturated Canary called Pixie Dust and I created a little magic of my own which I'll come to later :)

The image has been coloured with Copics in a duo of colours purple and blue.  It's then been cut out with a Spellbinders dies and I've glittered it all round the edges to go with the fantasy pixie magic theme.

The design papers are all from Lili of the Valley mainly purple but with a sneaky bit of blue.  All coloured papers edged have been distressed to give it a shabby feel.  I've then layered the distressed paper onto plain white paper to make them stand out more.

I've added a hand tied double bow in spotty purple ribbon which I got from Lili of the Valley before they stopped selling them.  The sentiment is also from a Lili of the Valley Art pad and I've coloured it with purple Copic and added some rhine stones.  I've also used some pear self adhesive gems.


Now for my bit of magic - here's a close up of my stars.


These I crated using some Tim Holtz grunge board shapes.  I've recently been doing a bit of mixed media so I've got a few paints etc. to use.  First they were painted with gesso, then I added Deco Art shimmer mist in violet, Deco Art ultramarine blue and Deco Art interference paint in blue.  I added these while they were all wet and mushed them up a bit to give a speckled effect.  While the pain was drying I added some Stampendous while glitter then over the top of all that I added some Deco Art crackle paste.  Once dried a rubbed a tiny amount of black in to highlight the cracks.  I was truly amazed how they came out :)

Ummm hope that last bit was easy enough to follow I was definitely in experimental mode!

Andrea x

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges
Your Scrapbook Place - Anything Goes
Art by Miran - Anything Goes
Wags n Whiskers - Birthday
Creative Inspirations - Lets Colour
Left of Centre - Three of a Kind
613 Avenue Create - Anything Goes (Moon &/or Stars)
Colouring Crazy Challenge (Graph IT) - Colour Duos









Just a little favourite

This beautiful image is from Small and Round called Spirals.  I decided to colour in in pink but instead of my usual pastels I decided to try a stronger colour.  All the colouring was done with Copics this time.

The image has been cut out with a Spellbinders die and then edged with Tim Holtz spun sugar distress ink.  I've also added some Stampendous embossing enamel in white.

The flowers arranged around the image are all from Live and Love Crafts and Wild Orchid Crafts - here's a close up of them.

So onto the design papers which are from Lili of the Valley.  I picked some complimenting bright pink papers with a touch of green to go with the image colours.  All edges have been distressed to give them a shabby look then layered.

There's some lace, tulle pleat, organza rose trim and flat back pearl string all from Live and Love Crafts.

My final additions were some pearl self adhesive gems and a silver butterfly bead.
Andrea x

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges
Sparkle and Sprinkle - Anything Goes (embossing enamel)
Digi Galore - Summery/Bright
Your Scrapbook Place - Anything Goes
In The Pink - Floral
Creative Inspirations - Lets Colour
Penny's Challenge - Anything Goes
Glitter n Sparkle - Pearls & Lace
Crafting from the Heart - Anything Goes

Saturday 18 July 2015

Honeycomb garden

I've been working on this canvas (my fourth) all week while I was in Hawkshead in the Lake District.  For those of you that don't know it, it's Beatrix Potter land.  As well as having beautiful scenery and temperamental weather - this is the UK after all :)

I started this canvas by gluing some on Lemoncraft design paper to the canvas.  I wasn't sure at the start how much of the writing I wanted to show through so I fill the canvas.

Added to this are a resin window which I got from Live and Love Crafts and honeycomb pieces from Blue Fern Studios.  Perhaps at the end of it I should have added some bees but I didn't have them with me.  I've also used some modelling paste with a Tim Holtz brick wall stencil.


The leafy boarder edge is from Dusty Attick which was cut to fit the canvas.  I then gave everything a good going over with gesso leaving some of the writing from the design paper showing.


Here I've started to add some colour to the canvas.  At the moment I've a limited selection of acrylics and I couldn't quite get the green I wanted to I started to darken it up as you'll see it the pictures below.



I've painted everything here but the honeycomb, mainly being indecisive about what colour I wanted to paint it.  I then applied some gesso to a lattice fence from I think it was Blue Fern Studios but I threw the packaging out in the Lake District and now I'm home I can't check :)  Over the top of this I've applied some gold paint from DecoArt.


The following photos are some close ups of the completed canvas where I've painted the honeycomb the same colour as the fence.


I've added a selection of flowers from Live and Love Crafts and Wild Orchid Crafts.  The butterflies I found on Amazon as I did with the dragonfly beads.


The resin bird house was also bought from Live and Love Crafts.


Here's a close up of the painted wall and window with a selection of tiny rose buds added to the bottom right corner.



And this is my final canvas - here for you to enjoy :)



Thanks for taking a look
Andrea x

I'd like to enter this canvas into the following challenges
Penny's Challenge - Anything Goes
Fab n Funky - Flower Delights
Create and Inspire - Anything Goes
Anything But a Card - Anything Goes
Creative Craft Cottage - Layer It Up
Mixed Media Monthly Challenge - Summer Days