Halloween Spooks

Another Halloween card to share with you today, this one possibly for my youngest grandson as it doesn't have anything on it that could be pulled off and pushed up/in any of his bodily orifices! After a recent spell in the A&E department when he pushed a Lego brick up his nose I am not taking any chances - the brads are in fact punched dots stuck on the card. It's a simple layout with various images from a clear Penny Black set coloured with Copics and papers from Designer Digitals. I've inked the edges of the papers and the mustard card mats and risked the Platinum Stickles glitter on the edge of the image and the broom. The ribbon is in fact dark brown, not black, and has been in my stash for several years so it needs using up.

The Penny Black Saturday challenge is titled 'too cute to spook!' so hopefully my card will be ok to enter, and I won their last challenge! The Sweet Stampin' Challenge blog have a trick or treat theme while Cutie Sunday are looking for autumnal colours. Cards For Men are looking for animals, and finally Paperplay have a Halloween theme. Short and sweet today friends, I am still struggling with life and have a busy few days ahead so need to rest.

Mr Snowman

This week on Cute Card Thursday we have a sketch for you to follow, a nice easy one so don't panic! I've stamped my LOTV snowman with London Fog Momento ink onto my old favourite paper from Rymans. I did order a pack of X-Press It ultra smooth blending card as recomended by Copic - but I don't like it. For starters, it's not a bright white, well not as white as the Rymans card. It is thicker at 250gsm, but as I mostly mat my images I'm not too worried about sticking with the Rymans smooth bright white coated at 200gsm. But, the bigest let down for me was the blending - I am so used to keeping my inks wet and blending the shades together, even mixing colours on the image to get what I want, and the X-Press just wouldn't perform. The colours absorbed far to quickly and when I tried blending/shading I was very disappointed and ended up throwing my effort in the bin. Back to the Rymans and I was happy, especially when blending the B0000 and B000 around for the background. The blues are B21, B23 and B45, his hat is cool greys C1, C3 and C5, and I used C0 for snow shadow. The pressie and twigs are coloured with E41, E42 and E43, then the golden yellow touches are Y13, Y15 and Y17.

And here's the card. I do like this snowman for quick Christmas cards as you can get away with very little colouring, if you like. I've added Stardust Stickles for the snowy ground, inked the edges with a blue chalk ink and used my white Wacco pearl maker pen to make the falling snowflakes. The background paper is a digi scrap from my stash with a white punched and embossed layer as per the sketch. To embellish I've diecut various Marianne snowflakes from Coredinations classic and whitewash card then sanded and layered them up.

The Totally Papercrafts challenge is for lots of layers, I have quite a few on this card with the image and the layered snowflakes. The Secret Crafter Saturday theme is wrap up warm - Mr Snowman is wrapped up with his hat and scarf against that falling snow!

Freebies

I've made these two cards with Karen's freebie digi images from Cuddly Buddly. I printed them off a little smaller then cut out with slim oval Nesties, used up some of my older papers and scraps of red and green card to diecut the embellishments. I've coloured with my Copics and inked the edge of the image with a pale green chalk ink, although it's not showing up in my tweaked pictures.

The size is a little smaller than the UK C6 - I have a stack of green envelopes so had to cut the base card to fit them. The style is traditional, but with a brighter red/green colour combo for a more modern feel - I hope they will be liked. On the first one I made the holly berries with my red Wacco pearl maker pen, and they ended up with points - argh! So, when the outer had dried a little (half an hour-ish) I gently pressed the points down with the tip of my pokey tool so they would be flatter, more like berries.

On this one I had to decide when to stop with the punched holly leaves and red Marianne swirls .. .. when is enough, enough!

The only Christmas challenges I could find are looking for vintage, sparkly or pastel creations, not really a fit for either of these cards. Party Time Tuesday do have an anything goes challenge though, so I'll link up with them.

I am feeling a little worn and jaded at the moment, there's so much to do and I've run out of steam. I know I have to take it easy or risk a ME relapse .. .. somehow it's the little things that bother me the most - filling in a tax return for my late Dad really got to me this morning. Mental and emotional stresses can sometimes be more devastating for my ME symptoms than physical exertion. Ah well, tomorrow is another day .. ..

Abracadabra!

Abracadabra! Having 2 grandsons, I didn't need much persuasion to buy this LOTV cute little lad and create a Halloween card for one of the boys. I've coloured with my Copics and kept the card layout simple with just a background paper over-stamped with various PB spooky images. These are the Copics I used: for the blues B91, 93, 95, 97 and 99; for the reds R24, 29, E07 and 09; the beige colours are E40, 41, 42, 43 and 44; and the stars are Y13, 15 and 17. I used W1, 3 and 5 for the floor and created the background shadow with B60, BV31 and B63.

Here's the card. I've added a brad I found in my stash, coloured the stamped stars and to finish I've punched stars from yellow card - simples!

Party Time Tuesday have a spooky challenge, as do Stampin' For The Weekend, while the Allsorts challenge blog are looking for Halloween creations.

Under the Moon

I have this Victoria Case digi image on my computer, and did colour it up last year but thought it would be a good one to play with again this year. With so many of my stamps still in the loft I'm sorting through the digi designs for ones to print and colour. I've used my Copics, and have a list for you: I've used the BV20, 23, 25 and 29 for the 'black' areas, the reds are R35, 37 and 39, the greens are BG93, 96 and 99, and the oranges are E95, 97 and 99. For the clouds I used W00, 0, and 1 with W1, 3, 5 and 7 for the fence posts. The moon is Y0000, 000 and 00, and for the sky/background I've used B91, 93 and 95.

Here is the card with the disastrous silver pearls. You can see that things started out ok in the bottom right but got steadily worse .. .. and in close up they look absolutely awful. I've added black netting behind the image over the dark blue paper from my stash. The touch of red lace was to echo the red in the image and I punched out the black poinsettias adding a red gem in the centres then diecut the leaves to create my flower embellishment. The butterflies were an afterthought - wish I hadn't had that! Now I think I'm going to have to try and take them off and cover up the mess .. .. ..

Is this better? I took off the butterflies and made bigger ones with the two smaller sizes of Nellie's Choice punch and emboss sets layered up with black gems for the bodies. I then diecut the Marianne fronds from red card and made another black poinsettia for the right hand side, although it's not showing up too well in the picture. I couldn't add the lace behind it as I've used it all up. There's a tiny light patch below the top butterfly on the right where the silver blob came off .. .. maybe I shouldn't have mentioned it then you wouldn't have noticed!

Now I don't feel embarrassed entering the Halloween challenges with this one, so it's Crafty Cardmakers who are looking for cute with a dark twist, Papertake Weekly who are looking for spooky hues, Paperplay looking for black somewhere, and Paper Sundaes, Magical Monday and Stampavie and More all going with Halloween.

Sorry!

Sorry I'm late, and sorry is our theme on Cute Card Thursday this week. My internet connection was very iffy yesterday and I just couldn't load any pictures at all. I discovered that I don't have a 'sorry' stamp, and I'm pretty sure there isn't one boxed up in the loft either so I'll have to go shopping .. .. .. any excuse! I've used the little mouse parade stamp from a clear Penny Black set and coloured with my Copics. This is just a little 4" square card with a scrap of digi paper I've edged with Platinum Stickles to give a sparkly interest. I matted the image and text with a soft rose card and added more Stickles, then decorated with velvet scallop ribbon, punched flowers and leaves, and little pearls. The pearls in the centres of the flowers are sticky back ones, but the ones on the butterfly bodies I made with my cream Waco pearl maker pen. How come I can make nice rounded pearls with this pen, but have so much trouble with some of the others? You can see my disaster with the silver pen tomorrow!

The Penny Black Saturday challenge was to show images on the move, so my little mice should be right along there. I'm going to try and get around some of the blogs this afternoon, internet allowing that is.

And an update on the building works: the pv solar panels are on the roof, but with such miserable weather they aren't generating much electricity at the moment - yesterday was the first day and we reckoned we made £5 worth, hopefully we can equal that today but this morning was very dull and overcast and the numbers were moving very slowly. I've not managed to work out how much we got for 'free' during the day, but every little bit will help. The planning application is now tacked onto the front gate for the next 21 days, hopefully nobody will object and we will get the permissions by the end of November. I've finished painting the porch but need a man with a hammer drill to put up a knick-knack shelf and a picture before I take any pictures to show you (plus I must wash the floor and clean the windows). The electrician will have to fit the new light as the wiring is a little old and we couldn't figure out which was the live and which the neutral. And I am hoping my DH will find time to make a coat rack - I've got 3 hooks so it's only a 10 minute job - heh heh!

Spells and Potions

I'm back again! I coloured up this image a while ago then left it, and you can see that some of my Copic shades have changed colour - especially the pink/violet, but I think it still works. The image is one I've had on my pc for a while, it was a free download from Elisabeth O Dulemba on the Colouring Pages site, see here. For the hat and apron I've used the BV20, 23, 25 and 29 shades, I do like these for colouring things that are black. The pink/violet shades are V04, 06 and 09, but that V06 has gone lighter and pinker. The green shades are YG00, YG03 and YG17 and originally they blended into each other much better, now you can see the joins, especially on her sleeve - I'm not happy with that.
But rather than mess about, the card will go into one of the charity boxes as it's a C6 size and hopefully someone might like it. The papers are various bits from my box with a black chalk ink pad dragged around the edges and matted with violet/pink card. For embellishment I coloured a piece of ribbon with the BV29, fixed on the brads, added a sprinkling of stars and wrapped around black thread. The bat is a PB stamp I coloured and glazed before cutting out - and the glaze then cracked - ah well, it adds to the ambiance (my excuse anyway).

There are quite a few Halloween challenges about so I'm linking up with Everybody Art and the Fussy and Fancy Friday blogs. Still having internet problems, I'm not sure if it's my pc or living at the back of beyond that causes me to loose connection, and when I do get connected it's a slow process to get about, but I'll try to catch up!

Decorating the Tree

We have a treemendous theme this week on Cute Card Thursday, perfect for creating a few more festive cards. I've inked up my LOTV little lad decorating the tree, coloured with Copics and put the card together with freebie magazine papers and some die-cut pieces.

I have a list of the colours for you: skin tones with my usual E000, 00, and 21. His hair, shoes and the pot are the E41 to E47 shades and the stool is E81 with those paler shades. For the tree I coloured with YG13 and 17, his cardi and the stars are coloured with Y35 and YR23, and the reds are R37, E07 and E09. I've used warm greys W0 and W2 for shading, and a new pen for me warm grey W00 for shading the fur trim on his hat.

Here's the card. I've punched out little circles with a hole punch then domed them with a big ball tool before inking the edges and fixing to the card as faux brads. I have used a real gold sparkle brad in the centre of my floral embellishment created with various Marianne dies.

The One Stop Craft challenge blog have an anything goes theme whilst Paper Sundaes want to see your favourite colour combinations, well for Christmas mine is the traditional red, green and gold.

Although I've been quite busy since I last posted, my absence has been more to do with the internet connection that has been disappearing seconds after I log on - so visiting and blogging has been a nightmare. I took Mum to the Magnet showroom on Monday afternoon to finalise our kitchen, but we ended up with a different one in the end! We couldn't afford the top end painted cream design and had been hopeful for the economy version, but it was more ivory than cream and not what Mum wanted. So, instead we have decided on a light oak shaker design with a brown imitation marble worktop, I just hope it wont be too much with the teak dining room table, chairs and sideboard she already has, plus we were going to have a wood floor. Perhaps if the floor is very pale or very dark it might work, and if I paint the walls a pale shade and avoid any more natural wooden pieces, and have a linen or leather sofa, all will be ok. I've still not got the paint for the porch, and have decided not to paint the old tv cabinet for storage in there as Mum now has a walker to help her get around outside, and that will have to live in the porch too.

If the internet connection holds I hope to be able to catch up over the next few days .. .. fingers crossed!

Sweet Blossom

Another Wee card to share with you today, this is Sweet Blossom and I think she is my favourite, at least at the moment anyway. I've coloured her with my Copics and used the classic K&Co papers to create my card. All the edges are inked with Jumbo Java Versamagic chalk ink and I die cut the mat with a fancy Nellie's Choice die. The flowers and butterflies are punches with cream peals made with my pearl maker pen, and the leaf swirls are snips of a Marianne die. The Fab 'n' Funky challenge is to use dies and punches, whilst the Truly Scrumptious theme is distressing, my inked edges will hopefully count.

I've lost my list of Copic colours for you, and sorry there's no close up today - do you like them or should I not bother and just show the card?

Here is the new porch that went in and was finished yesterday - the men from Bradworthy Glass did a fabulous job and even cleaned the windows, so you can see the reflections! I've put a comfy chair and little table at one end so Mum can sit and watch the world go by whilst having a cuppa. The other end will have a coat rack and low unit for storage tucked away, and I might take a trip to Trago Mills to see if I can find a rug to take off the chill of the tiled floor under Mum's feet.

Winter Fairy

Exciting news, you can now get 6 of Sylvia's gorgeous Wee designs in rubber from Whimsy Stamps, and they are starting to appear in the UK craft stores too. This little cutie is the Winter Fairy, coloured with my Copics of course, and given the Stickles treatment with Stardust and Platinum. In addition to my usual skin colours I used YG93 and 97 for the greens, R24 and 29 for the reds, E42, 43 and 44 for her hair and the birdie, E50 and 81 for the fur trims and wings, and E30, 31 and 53 for her coat and boots. I've also used warm greys for shadow, but it's not showing up in the enhanced picture above.

Here's the card, a simple design with papers from the Milton pack I used yesterday. Today though I've gone for a more traditional feel with inked edges and a satin ribbon with just a smattering of small flowers and holly leaves. I've used a gold pearl maker pen for the centres of the flowers, but I'm having problems with getting the rounded pearl shape with this one.

The Flutterby Wednesday blog have an open challenge again this week, the Allsorts challenge want to see at least 5 flowers, Magical Monday want you to have used 3 punches (circle punch for the text, flowers and leaves), and the Anything Goes challenge is for dies and punches.

I'm scheduling this post as the workmen should be here by the time you read this .. .. I'll catch up and link up later in the day.

Time for cake!

This week on Cute Card Thursday our theme is 'time for cake' - but I'm back on my diet so colouring cake is as close as I'm getting to any! This image is called 'time for tea' by LOTV but there is a rather large muffin on the table next to that tea pot. I've coloured with Copics and went over the cake with my glaze pen. The colours are bright to match the free Milton & Co paper pack I got with a magazine and for the Copic Creations challenge to use saturated colours. For the green tones I used YG11, 03 and 25, for the pale pink RV00, R81 and 83. For the bright pink RV25 and 29, and the purple is RV 63 and 66. I've used E70, 71, 74 and 77 for the brown areas with warm greys for the shading.

Here is the card. I've gone a bit mad with the pink pearls made with my Waco pearl pen, and the little flowers are punched with my new Nellie's Choice punch and emboss set plus I used the poinsettia set to make the leaves. I'm also entering the Paper Sundaes blog challenge for lots of layers and the Papertake Weekly challenge where it's anything goes for their birthday celebrations plus the option to use punches.

Sharing a biscuit

I've used the auto brightness adjustment button for the close up of this card, and it's showing up a lot brighter than it really is - but at least you can see my brush strokes! The image is one of the Dawn Christmas designs by Nellie's Choice, and of course I coloured with my Copics then added the snow with my pearl maker pen. In addition to my usual skin tones I've coloured her skirt with E50, 51 and 53, her jacket with R20, 21 and 22, her hat and scarf with E00, 02 and o4 plus the salmon pink shades from her jacket and G40, 82 and 94. Her hair, boots and the little squirrel are E42, 43 and 44 and the shading is done with the cool greys C0, 1 and 3.

And here is the card looking more like in real life. I've edged the plaid patterned paper with a snowcap Adirondack dabber to add a distressed edge, and sanded the diecut elements to keep the shabby chic look going. The diecut buttons I threaded with twine, added the pale pink ribbon and finished with more pearls on the leaf spray.

The Dutch Dare challenge blog are playing bingo and I've got a line with ribbon, flowers and diecuts. Fun with shapes and more blog are looking for vintage/shabby chic, while the ABC Challenge blog are back with an A for anything goes theme.

I've been off line for a few days so have lots of catching up to do and hope to have a couple more cards ready to share with you this week.