Whiff of Joy Brown & Blue challenge

Wow what amazing weather we've had this weekend. It's been glorious!! We have had two BBQ teas.....mmmmm...delicious and no cooking for me because of course men HAVE to do the BBQing LOL!!! Hubby had a well earned day off today, he has been doing a lot of work outside when not at work to help with the extension we're having built so doesn't seem to have been around much. So today we went to our local beach, just twenty minutes away. It was great, it felt like being on holiday abroard it was fab! Didn't get much sunbathing done though, our little girl (14 months) decided she loved attemtping to walk on the sand with us holding her hands so we 've got curved spines now LOL!

Anyway...onto my card. This is for the Whiff of Joy challenge to make a brown and blue card. I love these colours together. I used one of the new summer kit stamps "shy Willow", she's gorgeous, I love the victorian style clothes they're wearing. I don't have a cuttlebug or similar and get a bit fed up with everything being square so drew round part of a handle on a baby plate we have to create the shape around Willow....really like it actually! Oh and shhhhh, don't tell my little boy I pinched two feathers out of an easter decoration he has in his room to sit behind one of the flowers! No inside views today I'm afraid, I've kind of lost my steam with this one, I have none of the blue paper left and am not sure who I'm giving it too so just couldn't decide what to put inside.

Image: Shy Willow from Whiff of Joy summer kit coloured with copics

Papers: Cosmo Cricket, Kaisercraft

Flowers: punched with EK success retro punch and Xcut flower punch

Brads: Dovecraft

Butterflies & sentiment: from stash

Whiff of Joy post it note holder

Whiff of Joy are running a challenge to make a post it note holder on Stamp out Alzheimer's site this week to raise money for this worthy cause. Here is my noteholder. I have gone for a vintage feel (seem to be really loving this kind of look as you've probably gathered lately LOL but then I've always loved anything distressed!) I made the paper myself using the strawberry stamps from the summer kit and one of the swirls from the spring swirls kit. I also made the rose from crumpled paper as on my last card. The lace my Mum gave me the other day...she found it under a cabinet and thinks she has some more somewhere....how gorgeous is it!?!?! and free!!!! I used another summer kit stamp, the gorgeous Willow with strawberries. I made a pencil holder for inside and I have made a toggle fastening out of some mint green elastic and a huge pearl button. Not sure if I'm entirely happy with it to be honest...was having one of those nights last night where you just can't seem to get into what you're doing. Check out the site and have a go yourself!!

My paper rose made from crumpled paper , I added Qchalk to the edges of the petals.

A view of the note holder open showing the toggle and pencil holder.

Image: Whiff of Joy summer kit coloured with copics

Paper: hand made stamped with strawberries and swirl stamps from Whiff of Joy coloured with copics

Flower: handmade

Lace, pearls and gems: from stash

Sugar Bowl challenge

This is my entry for the sugar bowl challenge to Kathy's gorgeous sketch. To be in with a chance of winning the fantastic prize of 6 Sugar Nellie stamps you had to also use pearls on your card.

I remembered two of my other hobbies that I haven't really touched for years to help me with this card: one was calligraphy, I used to love doing this as a teenager and managed to hunt out my old pen and a cartridge; the other was sugar flower making.....only with paper! I have made the paper rose myself in the exact same way you make a rose from sugar paste LOL!! I'm really pleased with how it turned out so expect lots more of these! Also the stamens in the centres of the Prima flowers are the ones you get to make sugar flowers with, I think I've had them 9 years because I'm sure I used them in the sugar flowers on my wedding cake! You might notice my wash tablet net bags in action again....this time brown and I decided to cut some parts out to make it look more lacey but unfortunately I've covered most of it with the other papers!

a close up of my rose made in the same was as a sugarpaste rose but with crumpled paper!

a close up of the sentiment. I masked off a Whiff of Joy sentiment that says "thanks for being you" so that I just got the thank and the you! Took a few attempts but got there in the end.

a close up of the gorjuss girl. Don't know if you've ever done something and then when you look at it you can't believe you've done it? this is me with this image I can't belive I've coloured it, I'm so pleased how the hair and wings turned out!

I have a bit of a love hate relationship with this stamp...I do think its beautiful but on the other hand it has always seemed kind of creepy to me too but then a few weeks ago I came across a saying "children are born with wings, teachers help them to fly" and so this gave me the idea to use this image and make a thank you card for my little boy's teacher to give at the end of term.....what do you think? does this image work with the saying? too late now anyway LOL.

I added my pearls on some wire in place of the corner cutouts on the original sketch...I have used this pearls on wire thing three times now, I just love how it looks! Gosh sorry, look how I've rattled on!

The inside is decorated with the same image as the front and the saying written with my trusty old calligraphy pen. I have also used three different stamps from the Stempelglede grunge collection in the backgrounds.

Image: Gorjuss girl set 2 by Sugar Nellie coloured with copics

Papers: Porcelain silver birch, Kaiser elegance victoria, Bo Bunny Eire celtic text (reverse side)

Flowers: hand made and Prima

Embellishments: from stash

Other tools: Ink essentials white pen, Stempelglede grunge collection

An Award!!!!

I am so touched to have received this award from Carolyn, thank you so much for thinking of me, it feels great to think my work inspires people!





The rules of the lemonade stand award are:-



*Comment on this blog

*Nominate 5 to 10 blogs you feel show great attitude and gratitude

*link to your nominees within your blog post

*comment on their blogs to let them know they received the award

*link back to the person who gave you the award to show your appreciation



I am giving this award to the following people who's blogs I visit on a daily basis because their work is so inspirational to me, thank you all of you.



Tab

Rach

Bev

Jeanette

Kim

Di

Gunhild

Whiff of Joy challenge

I am still so excited I can't stop smiling! Thank you Iris!!

Here is my entry for the Whiff of Joy challenge this week. My Mum asked me to make a card for her to give to my Aunt and had chosen one of my new summer kit stamps to go on it so decided to combine her request with the challenge. I had already bought some papers in my Aunt's favourite colours to make the card, which are quite autumnal but I think it works with the stamp quite well in the end. I got some copic paper and this is my first image using it but I don't think I like it, the colours don't seem as blendable as on the card I was using so think I will go back to the card from now on.

I used liquid pearls in gold to make the swirl as I thought the red paper looked too plain.

This is the inside of the card.

Image: Whiff of Joy summer kit coloured with copics

Papers: Cosmo Cricket

Embellishments: from stash

Other tools: Stempelglede grunge stamp (behind Willow)

I WON!!!!!!

Oh my word I just can't belive it!!!! I have won Iris' amazing blog candy!!!!!!!!!!! I am so excited. I have to keep going back and checking that it is really me that won. I have never won anything before!!!! Yippee!!!!! Look at all my exclamation marks LOL can you tell I'm a bit pleased???

Just Magnolia shape challenge

All was not lost after all on Friday having no E00 pen to colour my faces as I remembered I had coloured a Tilda for a Just Magnolia challenge a couple of weeks ago to go with some BoBunny papers and then decided the dress was too orange and needed to be pinker so I coloured her again but saved the one in the wrong colour, so all I had to do was match her up with some papers LOL, thank goodness for that! My refill ink came the next day but I'd already made this, but at least now I can colour again...yay!!!

I drew the shape of the card by drawing round different sized circles to form the curves (I used ribbon spools to draw round) I only had the aqua paper that really matched Tilda so used the Magnolia new year swirl and butterflies to make the paper behind Tilda and also added some liquid pearl dots, then I stamped the falling lilacs behind Tilda with plum q chalk so that they were still round Tilda after I cut her out. I cut two large butterflies out and made their antennae with some green wire. I couldn't find a place I was happy with to put a sentiment without spoiling the card so decided to hang it on a piece of wire

!

The inside is quite plain as I didn't have a pen to colour another Tilda! Might add a Tilda to the inside now I have some ink. I stamped some small butterflies in the centre of the shape and they have glitter wings and I cut out two large butterflies and stamped their antennae onto the card.

Image: Tilda picking lilacs from Magnolia coloured with copics

Other stamps: Magnolia new years swirl and butterflies. Papermania happy birthday stamp

Paper: BoBunny

Flowers: Prima and punched from the paper

Aarrrghhh!!!

Oh no! My local shop does not have the pen in stock....I have had to order from internet.....I have got to wait.....I cannot colour any images without this pen.....I am gutted!!! I can't believe it it is so annoying I hope they're a super speedy place and get it to me tomorrow I'm having withdrawal symptoms already! I ended up ordering some ink instead of a pen, figured if they're going to run out that quickly I'd be better off getting the ink as it is supposed to refill 6 times so works out cheaper.

Commissioned Magnolia card

As you can see this card is almost the same as the Whiff of Joy one below appart from the image and a few bits on the front. I was asked to make a card with the same papers and colours but with the Tilda picking lilacs image. I made some more paper to match and pretty much copied the front with a few changes because the image was bigger than previously. The inside is different too. I have tried to make Tilda look like a sepia photograph with the flowers picked out in colour, like you see them done on black and white photos only I didn't think black and white would suite the card. Bit of a disaster whilst colouring Tilda though.....my skin white copic has run out...yes run out after only 2 months!!!! So now have to go to my local craft shop for another, lets hope they have it in stock or I won't be able to colour any images until I get one! So please do not look too closely at Tilda's face for now because I couldn't finish blending it and will have to do it when I get the new pen. x

This is the inside.

Image: Tilda picking lilacs by Magnolia coloured with copics

Papers: hand made using distress inks, q chalks and Stempelglede grunge stamps

Brads, ribbon etc: from stash

Flowers: hand made using Stempelglede grunge stamps

Whiff of Joy challenge

I just LOVED doing this card, I really went mad with it LOL. I decided I was going to make my own paper with a distress ink pad and using some of my grunge stamps. It didn't turn out too bad for my first go with the distress ink so I decided to use it on the card as I'd done the colours to match the stamp I'd already coloured in. (I was so excited to receive the stamps yesterday I ended up stamping them all on the envelope they came in and coloured one in. Then I was so pleased with the colours I couldn't put her in the bin so the bit of envelope has ended up on the card!!) I thought my paper ended up looking like pot pourri and this gave me the inspiration for the rest of the colouring on the card. The flowers are made using the flower stamps from the grunge collection too and I added some gold wire threaded with pearls. I also made some paper "lace" with a small flower punch. In the middle of the small blue flowers I made some fillaments with several strands of cotton and blobs of liquid pearls on the ends which I'm really pleased with and will be doing again I think!

The inside is decorated with the rest of the paper I made and some more flowers and I stamped Willow's head in the grunge circle stamp and coloured it to look like a cameo because I thought her face looked just like the sort you get on a cameo.

This is my hand made paper before I turned it into the card!

Image: Whiff of Joy coloured with copics

Paper: hand made using Distress Ink and Q chalks and Stempelglede grunge stamps

Embellishments: wire, pearls, ribbon and brads from stash

Flowers: hand made with flower stamps from Stempelglede grunge collection

Whiff of Joy gift box

Here is the gift box I told you about this morning. I have made it to match one of the cards I made for a WOJ challenge a few weeks ago that I have decided to give to my Aunt for her birthday. I'm going to make some jewellery to go in the box when I can decide what to make and what beads to buy LOL. I've mostly used the same papers as on the card from the scraps I had left but I also used three stamps from my Stempelglede grunge collection that I got last week. I just love these so much, I love distressed things so these stamps are perfect for me. I got the inspiration for the box after seeing the one Tab made a couple of weeks ago (thanks Tab, I just had to make one after seeing yours!!!). I didn't have enough of the ribbon left to make a ribbon fastening as I'd planned originally so I made a magnetic fastening one with a ribbon bow instead. I used a sentiment from the WOJ spring swirls set which I thought was quite fitting for a box that is going to contain sparkly jewellery.

I have stamped part of the image for the inside of the box so it matches the card.

A close up of the inside, I added some tiny "diamonds" around Melinda.

I stamped the magnetic closures with a Stempelglede grunge stamp and added a bow.

This is the card I have matched the box to. It appears in an earlier post here if you would like further details.

Image: Melinda with Muffin Basket from Whiff of Joy coloured with copics

Papers: Cosmo Cricket dutch girl collection and My minds eye laundry collection

Flower: Prima

Ribbon, wire etc: from stash

Other equipment: Stempelglede grunge collection stamps