A very proud Auntie

My little nephew painted this owl last night whilst me and his mum were nattering and I think it just brilliant!  When I look at my own efforts in painting and colouring in with ProMarkers, when I haven't even drawn the outline because they are stamped, I am put to shame.  I especially love that the owl has eyelashes - how cute is that?!

Maybe I can pick up some hints and tips as I'm about to embark on an online journalling class dreamed up by the very talented Kirsty Wiseman that is called Me in My Moleskine.  With my love of nature, maybe a picture of a little owl can sneak its way in somehow.   My kit arrived yesterday all wrapped in pink tissue.  Take a look below:

 
What you can't see are lots of little strips of card with 'fill in the blank' sentences that I'll need to fill in all about ME!  Bit scary but hopefully it will be good to look back on when I am old and crazy (OK the crazy bit already applies!).  The class looks brilliant - there is an online live streamed session this week, a private forum to discuss what we are doing, a flikr group to show our creations, a class workbook etc. Can't wait! I'm sure I'll be posting some of  pages in the journal on the blog so keep a watch out.

Right off to bedskis.  Glad it has cooled down a bit.

Using up stash

Do you ever come across some papers that you bought ages ago and then think why haven't you used them yet?  Well this little card is made from some delicious papers and embellishments I got in the prettiest pink box ages ago (QVC I think). At the time I couldn't bear to cut them up but they've finally got the chop!  Hope you like it.  Hoping for some crafty time this weekend (well it is throwing it down) so maybe they'll be a few more creations next week...

ProMarker Storage

As promised to Rochelle, here's the first view of my new ProMarker storage.  I've tried some different things but I really wanted to have something that would make the pens easy to access (I'm too impatient with pen wallets or tying up with elastic bands), separate my pens into different colour groups for ease of blending, be in a nice strong storage box, and be convenient for carrying to the craft group.  Well this is what I came up with.  I have bought a 3L Really Useful Box from HobbyCraft for £2.79 - see here. The pens just fit - sometimes you need to wiggle them a bit when putting on the lid but it works.

At the moment I have separated the pens with cardboard dividers but I hope to make something better with stronger plastic when I have time. The categories are browns/neutrals, purples, pinks & reds, yellows & oranges, greens, blues and greys, and a spare section for swaps/doubles. I have then got some little white stickers (they were for a wall planner) and coloured in the dots before sticking them on the lids.  This way I can find the colours easily and I also know how the colours actually work in real life (sometimes they are a little different than the colour on the tube).  And there is still plenty of space for any new ProMarkers that might want to join my collection in the future :-)

I'm sure this is sooooo boring to many people, but to my tidy/organised friends like Rochelle and Karen, I'm sure they will love it!  It will also perpetuate my reputation in the craft group as being a little bit OCD with my storage and labelling solutions, but there you go.  Happy for others to copy! Go forth and organise...

Let them eat cake

Well here is the finished cake table (or the cake tableau as we were calling it!).  There were a selection of cakes that needed bringing together with one theme.  As the overall party theme was 1960s the paper flowers and copious amounts of dolly mixtures did just the trick. The tablecloth didn't look quite so creased on the day... I must point out that the turquoise flower in the bottom left was made my friend Ilze (just in case her sister is reading this! Hello Ilze's sister!).  Here are some close ups:

And how serindiptously they tied in with the table decorations (I had no idea pink and green was the theme!).

And most importantly, the birthday girl, Joan, who was over the moon with both the cake and how the whole party went. 

We all had a fantastic time with the games, scrummy tea and cakes, dancing to the sounds of the 60s, space-hopper races, lots and lots of laughter and rounded it all off with a trip to the chippy on the way on  home! A perfect day.

Paper Flowers

Pretty or what? I've been making some paper flowers from a Craftwork Cards kit to decorate a cake table at a birthday party.  The idea of how the table will all come together is still in my head but couldn't resist sharing the sherbety-colours of the flowers and just how gorgeous they are (and easy to make)! I'll try to remember to take a picture of the cake table before the cake is hacked into and post it next week.

Promarkers and Copics - Sepia tones

After being inspired by the very talented Nikky Hall at Polkadoodles, and having received some new ProMarkers to add to my ever expanding collection, I thought I would have a go at achieving a Sepia effect using a limited number of pens (as demonstrated by Nikky on Create and Craft).  The focal image is a Greetings Farm stamp called Dahlia, a gift from Karen which has been used and used.  As usual I've used my Martha Stewart punches, Nestabilities and a bit of ribbon to accent.  The oak leaves and acorns are Sheena Douglass 'A Little Bit Sketchy - Autumn Leaves' stamps. I know it is summer, but the sepia tones were just crying out to be mixed with autumnal leaves. And you know I love a bit of nature...  And the Oak tree being my joint top favourite tree (with the Weeping Willow) I had to buy these stamps when I saw them.  Bit sad having top favourite trees isn't it, but that's just me! Maybe I've got a bit of Ent in me.

Here's a close up of the image - click on the image if you want to see it close up.

I used a combination of Copics and ProMarkers. Still got to put in more practise to get perfect shading and 'shiny hair' but starting to get there.   As I'm on orders to try to relax and de-stress a bit this week, I think some colouring might just be the ticket. Any excuse hey?!

An oldie but a goodie

Needed an emergency birthday card and was rooting in my card box and came across this scrumptious chocolate and marshmallow card I made a while ago. No idea why it never made the blog at the time so here it is! Most of it has been made with Craftwork Cards products.  I don't know what it is about brown and pink that really appeals to me but I come back to this colour combination time and again.  It reminds me of strawberry creams, which reminds me of my Gran as they were her favourite chocs. Gran always got the pick of the box and my Grandad got left with "the 'ard ones as he won't know the difference anyway"! Poor Grandad...


Been a bit of a rough week so no new projects have been completed so it was a good job I found this card. Hopefully something new next time. Hope you've all had a better week.

Boxes and crafting pals

I must say my new crafting tool obsession is The Boxer Board by Crafters Companion.

Feeling a bit guilty that I have also passed this obsession on to my sister and brother-in-law who spent Sunday evening making loads of boxes! It is soooo clever how it just makes perfectly fitting box bases and lids. I also love it for measuring cm and inch increments, and it is so handy for paper pleating. So many uses! Loving it. So what have I made? Well here are a couple of boxes that I rustled up in literally minutes.

First is a little box made with Ivory Centura Pearl Card.  I have embossed a scalloped design around the edges, and topped it with some little handmade flowers (thanks to Karen's instructions!) and ribbon. I'm imagining this will be a good box for a jewellery gift for someone (good job I can make jewellery as well!).

Here's a close up of the flowers.  I'm loving the subtle cream on cream look at the moment (with a tiny touch of lemon!).

The second box is a lot brighter - I wanted it to be a bit more folksy.

It's been made to house a set of notelets I've made as a birthday present for a friend. As I was taking the picture my cheeky marmalade cat came for a look see and sneaked into the picture.  He hates being left out!

I'm sure this board will be used for many, many projects in the future!