Wednesday 26 August 2009

Passion for Promarkers and Inky Impressions

Feeling a bit sniffly today :o( Not ill, or anything dramatic like that, just a bit below par. Possibly because I've had a fantastic summer break with the kids and my gorgeous hubby has taken lots of annual leave this summer too but he's gone back to work this morning, and the weather has turned horrid! We've been out and about pretty much every day and spent a glorious week in Devon, and today I'm being very domesticated and sorting out everything in readiness for going back to school :o( Part of me is really excited because I will be starting my new job (HURRAH!!!) but I feel strangely nervous too.... ooer! But, unlike lots of parents who have been counting down the minutes since their children broke up, I am completely the opposite and am counting down the minutes to half term!! LOL!!!

Anyway, I've played along with the Passion for Promarkers challenge again this week because I have become completely addicted to using them! However, this week was an almighty challenge for me because the colours they chose to work with are Lavender, Lilac, Amethyst and Aubergine. Eeek!!! I'm just not comfortable with purple at all but surprisingly I enjoyed using them more than I expected to, so I made two cards!! LOL! The first one was a free digi image which I got from Inky Impressions blog - they have some gorgeous stamps! I even made the flower on this card myself using my Promarkers ;o)
Well, that's my lot for today - I have to get back to my domestics! I can hear my oven screaming for a scrubbing! LOL! Thanks for stopping by! :o) xx

Sunday 23 August 2009

Passion for Promarkers - Prussian and Pumpkin

Happy Sunday folks!! Very short post from me today as I'm rushing off to have a jolly with all my boys in Stratford on Avon!

Here's my offering for this week's Passion for Promarkers challenge where this week the colours to use are Prussian and Pumpkin, but with the addition of a Halloween theme.

And over at Winter Wonderland this week the fabulous DT have created amazing samples for this week's theme which is "By Candlelight" and here is a snippet of my own card.
* Edited by request - The cardstock was embossed using a cuttlebug folder - I just love it, it's so classy and I can't stop using it!! LOL!! The candle is literally two 'sticks' of plain white card, with a very slight arc cut out of the top strip. The top was then dabbed with versamark and dipped in white UTEE and heated. While it was still hot I dipped it in again and again (about 5 times in all) until it was really thick then I let it gently run down to give the melted wax look. When it had cooled I mounted it onto the other strip with some foam pads, drew a flame and filled that with stickles - that wasn't enough so I also dipped it into a very fine white glitter!! Once the flame was dried I cut it out and glued it in place. The flower is a ready-made one from my stash and the greenery is a Stewart Gill punch from Craft Obsessions! The main image was mounted onto red card, then fixed to a plain white card - very, very simple and will probably be my 'Production Line' card this year, so if you're a work colleague of mine, close your eyes now!! LOL!! Here is the full card:

Must dash - I can hear the engine revving and sounds of impatient boys shouting!!! Thanks for popping by!

Saturday 15 August 2009

A brand new challenge!!!

Yay!!! It's the 15th of August and a brand new challenge blog has arrived - Creatalicious Challenges. Bec and Cheryl have set out their first challenge which is to make something for a man (in honour of Father's Day in Australia next month) which incorporates the colour brown and use some metal on your project! As we had Father's Day in June here in the UK, I decided to make something that I've wanted for a long time - a message board!
I started with a box canvas and inked up the edges. Then I took a photo of all my boys and sepia'd it before printing it onto Lazertran (printable decal paper). I painted turpentine over the canvans and laid the soaked decal over it and sprayed it with a gloss sealant. From experience I know that the sealant reacts with the turpentine and crackles, although on this occasion, not as much as I would have liked. Then I added the text and a rub-on quote and stapled chicken wire all over the canvas. I managed to dig out a bag of tiny pegs from my stash to use to clip messages to the wire. Then to continue the theme I made the tag and foiled parts of the letters to give it a distressed feel!

So, if you want more inspiration, pop over there and have a look at some of the other fantastic projects that the team have created! And the best thing about this challenge blog is that you don't have to rush out and get something finished quickly - there's a whole month before the next challenge is set, and next time I hope to remember on time that Australia are actually 12 hours ahead of us so I need to blog a day earlier!!!!!!!!!

Friday 14 August 2009

Another new challenge

Oooh, I do love Summer holidays!!! I have had a great week playing with my stash and taking the opportunity to do a bit of blog hopping. I've missed so much stuff going on out there while I've been working full time and being able to take part in different challenges has been really exciting! Today's offering is from the Sugar Bowl Challenge blog which is another that I've not had chance to participate in until now. The challenge is to use a Sugar Nellie stamp along with Judy's sketch and to add your own handmade flowers, and here's what I came up withI've coloured it using my Promarkers again - omgosh, I am sooo in love with them - maybe I might even get round to using them on a different image! LOL!!

Thanks again if you've popped by, and especially if you've left feedback, it's always appreciated! :o) xx

Wednesday 12 August 2009

Passion for Promarkers - Cocoa and Rose Pink

Here's a moment I've been looking forward to - taking part in the Passion for Promarkers challenges! I've been eyeing them up for a few weeks now but without the essential ingredients I've not been able to play along. Anyway, curiosity got the better of me and I had to see what it was that everyone was getting so excited about so I invested in a few pens for myself.....then a few more..... and a few more..... OMGosh, they are wonderful!!! I think I may have found myself a new obsession! Now all I need to do is find the 'right' cardstock - the stuff I've been using is a little too porous and I find the inks bleed a little. Not enough to put me off though! LOL! And here is my first completed project using the pens. This week PfP are asking you to use Cocoa and Rose Pink as your predominant colours. This is one of my favourite colour combo's (let's be honest, anything with brown is a favourite colour combo for me!! LOL!)

I have used other colours too - don't ask which, I just love blending with these pens!! I hope my friend and neighbour hasn't discovered my blog because this is a card that I made for her birthday on Sunday. The 'Wishes' text was cut from a sheet of K&Co. and I rubbed on the 'best birthday' text from a mag freebie that's been lying around my stash den for goodness knows how many years!!! A touch of Stickles on the white text for that added pizazz and Lo, we have a birthday card!!

Thanks for dropping by, and don't forget to keep an eye out for Creatalicious Challenges which starts on Saturday 15th August - it's going to be a heap of fun!!! ;o) xx

Monday 10 August 2009

WOOHOOO!!!!!

Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah!!!! How excited am I??!! I've been AWOL because I've just spent a glorious week in the Devon sunshine (except for Tuesday - just don't go there!!! Grrr.....) and I came home feeling much chilled and, well, zonked to be honest. And in pain too - some berk who's brakes were faulty decided to follow us down Porlock Hill and she obviously had no control over the car and hit us, giving me whiplash!!! I'm not too bad at the moment though, fingers crossed!! Anyone who's familiar with Porlock Hill would know that you don't take a car with faulty brakes down there - it's a 1:25 gradient!!! Sheesh!

Anyway, I woke up yesterday morning to some really, really exciting news - I've been selected as one of the Creatalicious Challenges DT members!! YAAAAAAY!!!!! And I cannot wait for the 15th August when it gets going because Bec and Cheryl have got some absolutely mouth-watering challenges lined up that are sure to get you inspired and creating!! I finished my first one this morning and can't wait to show it off to you, but you're going to have to wait a few more days........ In the meantime, if you've not heard about it, why not pop over there now to see what it's all about and take a look at this FAB celebration candy that the girls are giving away to a lucky, lucky, lucky player!!!

Well, I haven't finished anything that I can show off this week (except a ton of holiday washing, but that's not very exciting!!!) so I thought I'd leave you with a pic of my beautiful little man on the beach....... what a darling!!!

Thanks for popping by! Have a great week! :o) xx