Bubble Explosion for Leonie

Hello lovely peeps

Leonie is launching her first range of embossing folders on Hochanda TV this evening and they're fab. They're from the 'Entwined' collection and are designed to go with the heart dies that were launched on 8th June. There are also more lovely co-ordinating stamps.

For my first card sample I used the 'Bubble Explosion' embossing folder.
I inked up the inside front of the embossing folder with distress inks

and spritzed a few times with a mini mister before running it through my machine with a 5x7" piece of Sheena's stamping card.

This gives colour in the debossed areas, leaving the raised part in white.

Next I stamped a few fish onto watercolour paper with Black Archival ink and coloured them in with Spiced Marmalade DI before cutting them out.

I added some Ripe Persimmon DI with a damp paintbrush to give a bit of depth

To go at the bottom of my sea/fish tank I added Versamark to some white card and sprinkled on Golden Sand embossing powder from Stampendous.



To make my seaweed I used the leaf parts of the large floral stamp from the 'Everlasting Love' set.
First I coloured up some thin gloss card with distress inks spritzed onto my craft mat

then stamped the leaves a few times over the top using Black Archival

I cut the leaves out layered them up at the bottom after adding my fish

For the front of the card I cut a circle aperture and fixed some acetate behind.
To add a bit of texture to the bottom I cut out some white card that I'd also embossed with the Bubble Explosion folder. An extra fish and some more seaweed finish it off.

Leonie has more shows on Hochanda tomorrow (Fri 1st July) at 9am, 12pm, 4pm and 7pm
and don't forget that my teamies have some fab samples to show you on their blogs.

Elaine - Cakecoffeecraft.blogspot.co.uk 

Jane - Isleofcraftycreations.blogspot.co.uk
Nick - http://nickinbarnsley.blogspot.co.uk

I would like to enter this in the following challenges:-
Crafty Girls Creations  #22 Always Anything Goes
Southern Girls Anything Goes
Alphabet Challenge I for Ink It Up
Creatalicious Challenges #94 - ANYTHING GOES with optional CAS
Not Just Cards  #33 Anything Goes (Always)  
Sisterhood of Crafters Create your own background

Thank you so much for stopping by,

Katrina x

First Birthday for Sugar Nellie

Hello lovely peeps

 It's the start of a new challenge today at Sugar Nellie and I've used the very cute Made with Love digi stamp for my inspiration card.

My cousin's granddaughter is one today and I wasn't sure what to put on her card until I came across this cutie holding a cake with one candle. Obviously it can be used for any birthday or occasion but it seems particularly appropriate for a first birthday.

I've coloured the image in with Promarkers and Graph'Its
Budding Rose, Rose Pink, Almond, Oatmeal, Lemon, 9500, 9501, 9502, 9503

The cupcakes are cut out with Marianne dies and the letters are by Quickutz. I wanted to add my favourite embellishment (buttons) but was worried that Ava might pull them off and put them in her mouth, so I've used a button die instead by Impression Obsessions to cut them from paper.

I would like to enter this in the following challenges:-
(to come)

Thanks for stopping by,

Katrina x

Entwined Willow for Leonie

Hello lovely peeps, happy weekend to you and a very warm welcome to my new follower.

For today's card I have used Santoro 'Willow' papers combined with dies and stamps from Leonie's Entwined collection.

First I glued one of the gorgeous papers onto the front of a 6x6 card blank and cut an aperture with the Big Heart Base die and then cut the leafy border from another paper using the Entwining Branches die

I lined the inside of the card with a third paper and then stamped one of the message ribbons onto a strip to go along the bottom of the card. I stamped one of the leaves from the Beautiful Bloom set onto 3 different papers and cut them out. I also used a small circle punch to make my own card candi from the same papers.

I would like to enter this in the following challenges:-
Simon Says Stamp (Mon)Use patterned paper
Morgan's Art World #13 Use Patterned paper
Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper  Anything goes with Patterned Paper
Let's Craft & Create Challenge #114 Hearts &/or Flowers
 Crafting from the Heart #117 Anything Goes (Always)

If you're a fan of Leonie's products then you might want to check your Hochanda TV guide for next Thursday evening at 8pm and Friday (1st July) at 9am, 12pm, 4pm and 7pm.
#justsaying :o)

Thanks for stopping by to visit me today,

Katrina x

Back in the Saddle for Polkadoodles

Happy Friday peeps :o)

It's challenge reminder time at Polkadoodles where the theme is 'Use a Die Cut' (you can use a manual or electronic machine)

I've used some of the pre-coloured cowboy elements from Work and Play 3 to make a male 'Get Well Soon' card.

First I arranged the images I wanted in Craft Artist and printed it in in draft to check they were the right size to fit my star dies.

Once I was happy with the layout I printed it off in colour and then positioned my nesting star dies over the top (notice my well-loved cutting mat underneath the card)

After I ran it through my ebosser machine I drew some rope borders around each of the stars - add a line where the embossed edge is and then draw in semi circular parallel lines

I coloured the 'rope' in with a Graph'It marker (9401) before matting the stars onto one of the background papers (which I brightened by 70 points in Irfanview, the software I use for viewing/printing images)

I would like to enter this in the following challenges:-
Hiding in my Craft Room #255 Masculine
Fab 'n' Funky #310 Boys/Men
Inspiration Destination  #91 Always Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by,
Katrina x

Follow Your Dreams for Leonie

Hello lovely peeps

I've got a quick and easy sample from Leonie's second launch to show you today, using the Flights of Fancy Background stamp and one of the sentiments from Off She Flew. This was my second card to make it onto the packaging, it was such a thrill to see it on there :D

First I embossed the background stamp onto Sheena's stamping card with Versamark ink and clear detail embossing powder.

I coloured the card with Picked Raspberry and Dusty Concord Distress Inks using a blending tool. I stamped the sentiment onto a scrap piece of the same card with black memento ink and then matted the background and the sentiment onto my card with a white mat in between.

To finish off I've glued on some flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts with silicone glue.

I would like to enter this in the following challenges:-
That's Crafty! Challenge Blog In the Pink

Thanks for stopping by,

Katrina x

Hippy Birthday for All Dressed Up

Hello lovely peeps

I'm thrilled to announce that I am a guest designer today over at All Dressed Up.

As always the theme is Anything Goes and I had the choice of any image from the store.

I couldn't make up my mind which lovely image to go for until I spotted 'Festival Lily' - Glastonbury Festival is coming up next week (and I happen to work in Glastonbury).

I coloured her in with Graph'It markers
Skin: 4115, 4155, 4170, 4180
Hair: 1210, 1230, 1270
Eyes: 8280 & blender
Dress: 5160 & blender
Necklace: 2160

The background paper is from the Daisytrail digikit 'Psychedelic' and I printed the sentiment using 'Troutkings' font. I've had the green ribbon for 10 years!

I coloured some white flowers (from Wild Orchid crafts) by dipping them in Picked Raspberry and Ripe Persimmon distress inks, spritzed with water. The centres are enamel dots from Grant Studios.

I would like to enter this in the following challenges:-
Inky Impressions Summertime
Come and Get It  #122 Weird/Whimsical
The Ribbon Girls June any card
Sisterhood of Crafters Summer Fun
Cardz 4 Galz # 24 Summer Fun
Eclectic Ellapu - MIDSUMMER
Addicted to Stamps #128 Flowers
World Wide Open Design Team Challenge 11 Anything Goes
The Crazy Challenge #224 Bingo (ribbon, digi, flowers)


Thanks for stopping by,

Katrina x

Bubble Grapes for Polkadoodles

Good morning peeps, hope you are well.

Today I wanted to show you how I made my grapes card that was on the Polkadoodles show last Tuesday on Create and Craft (if you're quick you can still watch the show on catchup here)

First I added some of the digi elements into Craft Artist to make the basis of my card. I made a frame with the stem digi on the Summertime CD by copying & pasting and rotating each copy by 90 degrees before arranging into a square. Next I dragged a sentiment into the centre and also this bottle into the corner (both from the Daisy Days CD). 

I made the bottle thinner my moving one of the 'handles' on the side of the selected image instead of one of the corner handles (which would keep it in proportion). Once it was looking more like a wine bottle I made a copy of it and positioned one behind the other.

Everything was then grouped together and positioned so it would print on the right hand side of an A4 piece of landscape card. After printing I cut it down to make a 6x6 card.

Now, for the grapes. There is a really useful cluster of bubbles in the Summertime stamp set

I stamped it a few times underneath the top of the frame and filled in with a single bubble from the Daisy Days stamp set. I coloured the bubbles in with Graph'It markers and then added Glossy Accents. I drew a little stem with a black fineliner and added a highlight with a white gel pen.

To make the bottles look like wine bottles I drew in some labels with a scribbled church/chateux kind of motif and then coloured them in with alcohol markers before adding more Glossy Accents.
White wine: lime green & pear green Promarkers
Red wine: 6140 Graph'It & blender

In the finished card I coloured in the white gaps between the grapes and added a couple more bunches which I stamped & cut out from a separate piece of card.

I would like to enter this in the following challenges:-
(to come)

Thanks for stopping by,

Katrina x

Interlocking Octopus Legs for Leonie

Hello peeps, I hope you are having a lovely weekend.

I'm in a silly mood so thought I'd show you the octopus I made with Leonie's 'Interlocking Love' die from her latest collection 'Entwined'

First I made another inky background on glossy card in blue & green to look like water.
This is the same technique that I used on Rosy Heart but I didn't use rock salt this time.

Next I cut out the heart twice from a lovely patterned pearlescent paper in the 'Falling Leaves' 8x8 pad by Trimcraft. To make the legs I cut each heart shape into four and rounded off the cut ends with my scissors. One of the middles cut into half serves as my octopus body

The sentiment is from the 'From the Heart' stamp set that accompanied the dies

I would like to enter this in the following challenges:-
 Send a Smile for Kids Anything Goes
Star Stampz Challenge  For/with kids
Southern Girls The Kids Are Alright
Through the Purple Haze #103 Use die and/or punch
Chocolate, Coffee & Cards #111 Use a die cut
Cut it Up #98 Sun & Surf
Happy Little Stampers June Anything Goes with Dies Challenge June
Come and Get It  #122 Weird/Whimsical

Leonie had some lovely demos on her shows. If you missed them they are still available on Hochanda's catch up service - select Thursday, Jun 9 from the list at the top and then click on the relevant show
 i.e. 12am/9am/12pm/4pm/7pm (this little fella appears on the 7pm show)

Thank you for visiting me today,

Katrina x

19th hole, here I come

Hello peeps, hope you are well.

The challenge theme on the Lili of the Valley Facebook page this month is 'Sports' - you still have until 6pm on Wednesday 15th to enter for the chance to win some fabulous prizes.

For my inspiration card I've used the lovely 'Playing Golf' stamp, which I coloured in with Promarkers
Skin: blush, dusky pink, sunkissed pink

Hair: cocoa, caramel

Jumper: apple, lime zest, ice grey 2 

Hat and trousers: pastel beige, khaki, umber
Clubs: ice grey 1,2,3
Bag and Shoes: Graph'Its 9203/5/7/9

The HB die is from Memory Box and Cloud dies are from Joy Crafts. The papers are from the 'In the Clouds' 6x6 pad by Trimcraft and I doodled my own 18 flag.

I would like to enter this in the following challenges:-
QKR Stampede #195 One for the guys
Crafty Boots - Masculine Cards
Chocolate, Coffee & Cards #111 Use a die cut
Kitty Bee Designs #73 Masculine Cards/For Dad
Stemplegarten #50 A card for a man
Catch The Bug  Masculine
Melonheadz Friends Challenge Masculine
Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper  Anything goes with Patterned Paper 

Thanks for stopping by,
Katrina x

Happy Forever for Leonie

Hello lovely peeps

As promised, I am back with another card sample using Leonie's new 'Entwined' dies and stamps.

 The inspiration behind this one was a Venn diagram (a bit left field I know, but I used to be a computer programmer and they are one of the first things you learn). The idea is that where 'you' and 'me' join together we are 'happy'.

First I cut out two hearts with the 'Big Heart Base' die and overlapped them. 

Then I used tracing paper to outline where they overlapped and cut an aperture

There is a 'Be Happy' stamp in the 'From the Heart' stamp set and I could have masked the 'Be' off while I was stamping but the words are very close together and I thought this would be a bit of a faff so instead I very carefully cut in between the two words with some fine-pointed scissors

 (these next few pictures are step by step from a previous attempt but the technique is the same)

I drew horizontal lines over my paper with pencil to help get my wording stamped straight then I placed my tracing paper mask over the top and stamped 'Happy' a few times'

I then masked off everything apart from the inside of the left hand heart and stamped 'you' all over it (from the 'Folk Art Fun' set)

I repeated this process with the right hand heart and stamped 'me' all over it (this was from Leonie's last set of stamps)

I wasn't happy with my first/second cards, so this is how it looks on my 'third time lucky' attempt
(on a Raspberry Road paper)

I cut the hearts again in red card and glued them in place

I've stamped 'Forever'  from the 'Dizzy Daisy' stamp set in the corner

you + me = happy forever
Get it? :D

To make the hearts stand out I added some shadows with a grey pencil

If you missed Leonie's launch show last night you can see it on Hochanda's catch-up service for the next 2 weeks at http://hochanda.com/Cinema.aspx?tvId=7941&date=08-06-2016&time=20&watch=Leonie+One+Day+Special+Launch

  Leonie is on again at the moment (9 - 10 am), and has more shows at 12pm, 4pm and 7pm on Hochanda, and you can see lots more samples on my teamies' blogs

Nick - http://nickinbarnsley.blogspot.co.uk
Jane - Isleofcraftycreations.blogspot.co.uk
Elaine - Cakecoffeecraft.blogspot.co.uk

Thank you everyone for your lovely comments and encouragement, they mean a lot to me. I hope you can drop by again soon.
Katrina x