Bored at Work

Hello lovely peeps, I hope you are well.

My card today is using Bored At Work from Bloobel. I printed him onto 160gsm Elegance Satin paper from Joanna Sheen and coloured him in with Promarkers (names) and Graph'Its (numbers)
 Hair: 3250, Caramel, Sandstone
Skin: Coral, Sunkissed Pink, Blush
Suit: Cool Grey 5,4,3
Tie: 8260, Apple, 8210

I fussy cut around him, discarding the desk part of the image (instead I've got him leaning on a strip of card coloured with Cool Grey 5 Promarker).

The papers I layered up my card with are from the Digikit 'Born to Shop, Forced to Work' on Daisytrail. You do get the sentiment with the kit, but it is curved, so I typed it in using the kit's alphabet instead. I've scribbled lines around the edges with a black fineliner pen.

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

Bloobel Progressive Challenge - May: Bored at Work

Passion For Promarkers Challenge #396 Make it manly

Creative Inspirations #275 Anything Goes

C.R.A.F.T. #417 Fathers Day/Male

As You Like It Challenge favourite skin/fur combo (Coral, Sunkissed Pink and Blush Promarkers are my 'go to' colours for skin - I get a nice depth of colour instead of the wishy-washy effect I was getting with previous combos)

Thanks for stopping by,

Katrina x

Just Be for Leonie

Hello lovely peeps and welcome to my new email follower :o)

Today I have another unseen card from the archives, using the Just Be stamp set by Leonie.

First I drew a pencil line across the bottom of some white card and stamped the words on, lining up the top of the rubber stamp with the pencil line.

Then I inked and stamped it again to line up with the first one.
I stamped the beautiful fairy in just above the words

and coloured her in with Graph'It markers. The wings were stamped separately onto vellum and attached with Collall Photoglue after colouring.

For the background layer I ran some white card through the 8x8 version of the Leaf Vein embossing folder from Crafters Companion and coloured the edges with one of my markers to match.

For embellishments I rootled in my stash and found these lovely jade coloured beads. I fed some gold wire through the centres and twisted into a little loop to hold them in place before twirling the tops of the wire around my pokey tool (to match her curly hair).  They were attached with Collall 3D glue gel to the back of the sentiment (also from the 'Just Be' set).

I finished off by stamping the single flower from the 'Just Be' set several times onto thin card, which I then coloured and cut out. These were attached with more 3D glue gel.

Thanks for stopping by,

Katrina x

Pastel Butterflies for Leonie

Hello lovely peeps, I hope you are well.

A quick card for you today, combining some of Leonie's stamps with patterned paper from my stash.  I stamped one of the butterflies from Leonie's Flight to Freedom set a few times onto patterned paper and cut them out. One is cut in half so it looks as if the butterfly is seen from the side.

The flowers were cut from a co-ordinating paper and I layered them up with a matching background paper and a sentiment from Leonie's Off She Flew set stamped onto white card.

Some borders doodled with a black fineliner pen finish it off.

I would like to enter this in the following challenges:-
Dream Valley Challenges # 156 Things with wings
Moving along with the Times #45 Butterflies
Stamping Sensations  Butterflies, fairies and fantasy

Thanks for stopping by,

Katrina x

Oliver Studying for LOTV and Giveaway Winner

Hello lovely peeps

Today I have another card made using 'Oliver Studying' which will be released on Saturday at Lili of the Valley.

First I coloured a 6x6 square of Sheena's stamping card with Frayed Burlap and Hickory Smoke Distress Inks and then overstamped with one of the LOTV Just To Say statement stamps (these are now available as digis here).

The main image was printed onto 300gsm watercolour card - I brightened it first in my graphics program so that the lines were not so dark - this makes them less likely to bleed when colouring with water-based pens.

After leaving it to dry overnight I coloured the image with Distress Markers:-
Tattered Rose, Bundled Sage, Hickory Smoke, Peeled Paint, Scattered Straw, Vintage Photo and Frayed Burlap

The thought bubble was cut from watercolour card using a Sizzix Die called 'Thought Talk Bubbles' and I stamped letters inside using Retro Alphabet by MSE before doodling in the border.

I would like to enter this in the following challenges:-
 Addicted to Stamps 148 Brads and/or buttons
Creative Knockouts #193 Favourite embellishment (buttons)
Creative Inspirations #275 Anything Goes
Fab 'n' Funky #351 Backgrounds

Before I go, the winner of my 100 followers giveaway is

Glennis
Congratulations hun, please email your address to me
kernewekkat (at) gmail (dot) com
and I will get your prize off to you.

Thanks for stopping by,

Katrina x

Milkshake for LOTV and marker reorganisation

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

Don't forget that my giveaway ends tomorrow (Monday) at 9pm. Click here for the post where you need to leave a comment for the chance to win.

Today's card features a sneak peek of another one of the new Lili of the Valley stamps being released on the 20th May.  It's called Milkshake, isn't it just adorable?

I coloured it with my own combo* of alcohol markers
 (named=Promarkers & Flexmarkers, numbers=Graph'Its, codes=Le Plume)
Skin: Coral, Sunkissed Pink, Blush
Hair/Fur: 3270, 3250, Caramel, Sandstone, Ivory
Dress: Cool grey 3 & 1, PV774, Budding Rose
Table & Chairs: G679, Soft Green, Tea Green
Bag: 3230,  Tulip Yellow, Buttercup
Present: Spice, Apricot, Saffron

The papers are from the Forever Friends Kraft Notes 6x6 paper pad and the spotty pink ribbon that I've mostly covered up is from the Ribbon Girl.

The flowers are a mix from my stash, some Prima and some Wild Orchid Crafts.
Edit: forgot to say that the sentiment is from the Sketchy Wishes set by LOTV

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

The Ribbon Girls May any card
Deep Ocean Challenge #154 Anything Goes 
Crafty Purple Frog Fabulously Floral
Mod Squad Challenge - Let's color
Creatalicious Challenges #114 Anything Goes with optional Mothers Day/for the girls
Addicted to Stamps 148 Brads and/or buttons
SSS Work it Wednesday April showers bring May flowers

Above I mentioned 'my own combo' of alcohol markers. Over the years I've managed to accumulate quite a few (OK, 300) by buying them where they've been on offer.  This meant that I ended up with three different brands and it was sometimes difficult to find the right colour blends.

(old charts from left to right - Letraset Promarkers/Flexmarkers, Marvy Le Plume, Graph'Its)

Over the early May bank holiday I bit the bullet and sorted them all out. On the card that I normally use (Silky Smooth Ultra White 250gsm from Limetree Craft), I scribbled out lots of combos to find the best blends. 

It was a bit of a mammoth undertaking but now I have whittled down my marker collection to 167 (plus a few blenders) and they all fit in one place :o)

I printed off a blank chart that I downloaded from here onto the same card, and then filled it in with my chosen colours. This has been so handy - it's really easy now to find colours to match my papers and I don't have to waste time and ink trying to find the best combos. 

Thanks for stopping by, I hope to see you again soon :o)

Katrina x

Oliver Kicking About for LOTV

Hello lovely peeps and welcome to my new followers

Today's card is using Oliver Kicking About from Lili of the Valley. I stamped him with black Versafine ink onto watercolour card and coloured him in with my new Distress Markers.

The dies I've used are 'arrows' from QuicKutz and 'Grand Happy Birthday' from Memory Box

I would like to enter this in the following challenges:-
Fab 'n' Funky #350 Kids and Teenager birthdays
Classic Design Team Challenge #14 Anything Goes
Happy Little Stampers Anything Goes with Dies Challenge May
Open-Minded Challenges #17 Men and Boys
Simon Says Stamp (Wed) Going dotty
Not Just Cards  #44 One for the boys
As You Like It Challenge favourite die (I find men's cards quite difficult to embellish, so this set of arrows is very useful. I love the 3 different styles too, the spiral is fun for wrapping around things and you can stamp a sentiment straight onto the chunky one)

Thanks for stopping by,

Katrina x

Happy Birthday to LOTV and a Sneak Peek

Hello lovely peeps and welcome to my new followers.

 There are big celebrations over on Facebook today as Lili of the Valley becomes a teenager :o)
The party starts at 10am BST so pop on over for a chances to win some goodies.

The new stamp launch has been postponed until 20th May as there are even more images being released.  Woo hoo!  This is one of them - Oliver Studying. With exam season almost upon us I think this one will be very popular (there will be a new Jasmine Studying image available too).

I printed him onto Super Smooth 250gsm card and coloured him in with Promarkers and Graph'Its

My card is layered up with papers from my stash (Homeroom Alphabet and School Graffiti) and I overstamped 'Good Luck' from the Block Sentiments stamp set with black Memento ink.

I would like to enter this in the following challenges:-
 The Male Room #60 Theme - stars
Sisterhood of Crafters  Encouragement
Creative Craft Cottages Challenges #87 Three of a kind
Simply Create Too #127 Use a digi stamp
Open-Minded Challenges #17 Men and Boys

Thanks for stopping by,

Katrina x

100 Followers Giveaway

Hello lovely peeps, I hope you had a lovely weekend. I'm absolutely thrilled to say that I reached 100 followers yesterday - a very warm welcome to you Tina :o)

As promised, I am having a little giveaway to celebrate.

The lucky winner will receive:
an 8x8 Happy mask and stencil set designed by Leonie Pujol
a Butterfly Dance die designed by Sara Davies
a 6x6 Butterfly paper pad designed by Jodie Lee for Prima

All you need to do for a chance to win is
a) be one of my Google followers*
b) leave a comment below telling me what your favourite crafting style is
(e.g. shabby chic/clean and simple/grungy/cute etc.)

*Sorry, this giveaway is only open to my Google followers, but don't worry if you follow me by email/Instagram/Pinterest. I will be having another giveaway in 2-3 weeks to celebrate my 300th blog post and that will be open to all of my followers

The closing date for this giveaway is 15th May 2017 at 9:00pm BST
THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED

Thanks for stopping by today and good luck everyone,

Katrina x

Happy Birthday Challenge at LOTV

Hello lovely peeps, I hope you are enjoying the weekend.
Will today be the day I get my 100th follower I wonder? :o)

Lili of the Valley are celebrating their 13th birthday on the 10th of May, so the theme for this month's Challenge is Birthdays. This is the inspiration card that I've made, featuring the Simply Print image 'Bunny Blooms'  

The pre-coloured image comes with daffodils but I wanted something pink, so I cut the bunny and stems out so I could attach my own flowers.

For the background I took a paper from the Romance and Roses paper pad (discontinued, but available as a download from Nitwit), roughened the edges with my scissors and then inked the edges with Picked Raspberry distress ink.

This was attached to a 6x6 card blank and I added some grass which I'd die-cut from another paper in the pad using the Die'sire Icicle die. I glued Bunny down onto the card and then attached some pink sweetheart blossoms from WOC at the end of the stems using blobs of Collall 3D glue gel.

The sentiment was stamped onto white card using one of the 'Happy Circular Sentiments' from LOTV and cut out - I used the second impression as it went better with the soft colours.

The card is finished off with a pink organza bow and some clouds die-cut from white card.

I would like to enter this in the following challenges:-
Shopping Our Stash #301 fussy cut
The Ribbon Girls May - any card
As You Like It Challenge favourite die (the Icicle die which I always use for grass, it's so useful. And you get two uses out of one cut as the negative works just as well as the positive)

Thanks for stopping by,

Katrina x

Little Flower Fairy for Crafty Calendar

Hello lovely peeps, I hope you are well.
If you weren't aware already, I'm having a little giveaway when I get to 100 Google followers - just one more to go :o)

 There's a new challenge starting today at Crafty Calendar and the theme this time is 'Flowers'.
We have 2 sponsors this month -  All Dressed Up



and Lemon Shortbread



For my inspiration card I have used Little Flower Fairy from All Dressed Up. I coloured her with alcohol markers (named=Promarkers, numbered=Graph'Its)

Skin: Coral, Sunkissed Pink, Blush
Hair: Tan, Cinnamon, Cocoa, Walnut
Red Flowers: 5210, Poppy, 4147, 8290, Pear Green, Lime Zest
Leaves:  8290, Olive Green, Soft Khaki
Yellow flowers and dress: 1280, Mustard, Pastel Yellow, Daffodil Bloom, Ivory
Wings: Blender and 4147
Ground: 9505, 9503, 9501, 9500

then die-cut the image with a large circle die and colored the edges with Antique Linen Distress Ink.

I layered this up on papers from the 'Blank Canvas' 12x12 paper pad from Trimcraft/First Edition, the pink one was edged with my newly acquired 'Cherry Blossom' punch from Martha Stewart.

The card is finished off with ivory organza ribbon, pink twine, a pink rose bud and tags made with Lili of the Valley's Sentiment Tags stamp set

I would like to enter this in the following challenges:-
All Dressed Up #68 Anything Goes
 Southern Girls #159 Use a punch
 Creative Inspirations #274 Blooms and Bows
Creatalicious Challenges #114 Anything Goes with optional Mothers Day/for the girls
Passion For Promarkers Challenge  #393 Make it Bloom
Glitter n Sparkle #237 Flower Power 

Thanks for stopping by,

Katrina x

Funky Flower for Leonie

Hello lovely peeps

Just popping in to show you a quick card from the archives that I made with the heart stamp from Leonie's Off She Flew set.

I stamped the heart seven times onto pink patterned paper and twice onto green paper, then cut them all out. For the centre of my flower I die-cut a circle from the green paper and stamped one of the sentiments from the Flight to Freedom set in the middle. I drew stitches around the edge of the circle with a black fineliner pen to match the hearts.

The pink hearts were then arranged as 'petals' around the circle and the green ones were used as leaves. My stem was a piece of florist wire, attached at the back of the flower with silicone glue.

I also used florist wire to make antennae for my ladybird, the ends were curled around my pokey tool. Her body is just a circle die-cut from red paper, and black spots made with a regular hole punch.

The background layer of the card is the reverse of some white card that I ran through the 'Gothic Script' A4 embossing folder from Crafters Companion.

Thanks for stopping by,

Katrina x

7 Today for Leonie

Hello lovely peeps, and welcome to my two new email followers :o)

I'm continuing through my trawl of samples for Leonie that I never got around to blogging. This hanging was made with the Zentangle stamps from her first collection last year.

For the background I stamped some flowers from Tangled Tails onto circles of white card using 3 different inks:-
 Encore Ultimate Metallic 'Honeydew'
Fabriko 'Burgundy'
Brilliance 'Pearlescent Orchid'

The '7' and 'today' were cut on my CraftRobo from thin white card and I stamped all over the shapes with one of the flowers using Black Memento ink. I coloured around the flowers with Rose Pink Promarker before gluing them to their backgrounds.

I backed each circle onto a slightly larger pink scalloped circle and glued them back to back with pink organza ribbon sandwiched in between

I added a frame front and back using some 'Catalina Wreath' die-cuts (Memory Box) which I coloured with the Honeydew ink. The little flowers are pink sweetheart blossoms from Wild Orchid Crafts - I twirled their wire stems around my pokey tool.



   The piece is finished off with adhesive pink/green/clear gems

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

Country View Crafts' Challenge Flower power

Classic Design Team Challenge #14 Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by,

Katrina x