Elements of Nature Class from Kit and Clowder

Hi there!  As mentioned in my previous post, I have joined the Elements of Nature class at Kit and Clowder.  There are a wealth of images and techniques to learn in this class.  I'm going to be doing one of the images here and there, so if you're interested, I will tag them so they're easier to find.  I love flowers and colouring them, so taking this class was never a question.  Each of these three pictures was coloured on 200gsm cardstock.

First up I attempted colouring these gorgeous Lillies.  I didn't have the correct greys so I tried to mix a C1 and a C5 to make a C3, with some success.  I will have to have another go at colouring these now that I have all the markers used in the class and see if there is a noticeable difference or improvement.  In any case, I totally love how this first one turned out.

Next up we had a request from Alyce (the teacher) to colour in the strawberry, cherries and blueberries picture.  This presented me with quite a challenge as the 200gsm cardstock just absorbs ink and doesn't aid in blending.  I now have a new stash of blending cardstock for the way forward!  Yay!

Finally, I have coloured one more picture from the Elements of Nature class, the lemons.  These turned out pretty good I think as well.  I can't wait to see and feel the difference when I start colouring on the XpressIt blending cardstock.

Well, that's all the images from the class that I've coloured so far.  I really am learning a lot!  Thanks for stopping by, I hope you have a brilliant day!

Cheers

Kaz

A Dramatic Improvement In My Colouring - Thanks to Kit and Clowder Classes

Hi there.  Sorry for the long absence.  Life gets in the way and being uninspired doesn't help when creating!  

My mojo got up and left the building and only visits me sporadically - usually when I need a card for a purpose.  So, to try to entice my mojo back a little more regularly and because I was inspired by my friend Cheryl Wright's* progress in colouring - I decided to join online colouring classes at Kit and Clowder.  *I am trying to get a link to Cheryl's blog for you.

I joined in March 2016 with the Create and Learn markers class.  I pay only $20 a month and have lifetime access to the class and constructive feedback from the wonderful trainer Alyce Keegan.  Plus, her website has lots of useful tips and information.  

I really love the format that Alyce teaches in.  She produces a step by step video and a printable step by step guide.  I have watched a lot of youtube colouring over the past few years and thought I'd learned quite a lot, however Alyce not only shows you, she explains things - like 'cast shadows' which are shadows cast by things that are in front - like strands of hair for example.

I thoroughly enjoyed the March marker Create and Learn class and here are the results - I never could have coloured something this wonderful without the class!

I also thoroughly enjoyed the April marker Create and Learn class - and I have a special soft spot for dinosaurs - see the results below.

You can definitely see a dramatic improvement in my colouring just across those two pictures.  

Alyce also holds competitions and the facebook group is an excellent source of inspiration and support for all the members of Kit and Clowder.  For one competition we had a picture of this girl on a swing to colour in.  I wasn't game to try to make some kind of background so it doesn't have one, however I love how the colouring came out - without instruction - and can say that I used some of the things I learned in the March marker class (on the hair especially).  I was pretty happy with the dress, not knowing how to colour folds - I'm very happy with the outcome.  I do plan to sign up for the 'skin and hair' and 'clothing technique' classes.  What do you think?

I also won a prize from Alyce and Kit and Clowder, it was 3 Mepxy markers - a brand I'd never heard of before.  They are in lovely blue shades - a blendable set of 3 :o)  I'm not sure how to pronounce their name, but I go with 'mepsy'.

I have also taken up another of Alyce's classes, but I'll save that for a separate post.

I recommend you check out her website, if you love colouring - using pencils or markers - and wish you could colour like a pro; here's the place to start your learning!

Cheers and thanks for stopping by!

Kaz

Outlawz Freebie/Progressive Challenge Entry - October 2015

Hey everyone!  I'm in a bit of a hurry here to get my entry for the Outlawz Freebie/Progressive Challenge entry in for the October challenge!  Please check out the other entries on the gallery here.

The free digi this month was given to us by Gerder Steiner...  I wasn't sure what sentiment to put on the card I made as we don't really celebrate autumn or halloween in Australia, so I left off the sentiment to put one on as needed in the future.

Here it is!  I attempted watercolouring, wasn't very successful, but I did learn a couple things in the process. 1. I learned that this watercolour paper (bought at Kaisercraft) doesn't work well with double sided adhesive tape, it just ripped off layers of the paper.  So, number 2. I learned that you need to use liquid glue but go easy on it as too much can affect the colouring.

Thanks for stopping by!
Cheers and happy crafting, 
Kaz

The Outlawz Freebie/Progressive Challenge - September 2015

Hi there.  I've made a few cards since my last post and will make another post in the next few days to backtrack and show them to you.  I sent one of the cards to my Dad for father's day so didn't want to chance a sneak peak if he saw it posted on facebook.  Father's day in Australia is in September.

Anyhoo, this particular post is all about the Outlawz Freebie/Progressive Challenge.  When you join the challenge and submit an entry each month, you automatically receive the next months challenge digital image for free.  Please check it out over on the Outlawz Website.   You can also view their gallery for inspiration and if you type in this code PF10 or just click the link I created you can view the entries for this challenge.

This free digi image is courtesy of Ignacio at Nicecrane.  Thank you!

So here is my card made with this lovely image.  I sandwiched a piece of acetate on the front of the card for strength.  I used StampinUp Razzleberry and Old Olive cardstocks, as well as the razzleberry SU alcohol markers (which were discontinued).  I used various copic green pens for the rest of her.  The image did print out a little unevely on my printer (hence the line on her right leg) but it's minor and I don't think it takes anything away from the image.

Thanks for stopping by and commenting if you did, it is really appreciated.

Cheers

Karen

The Male Room Challenge Blog - Challenge No 17: Stash - Use Newsprint

Well hello there!  Today I bring you a new challenge blog that is aimed at masculine cards! 

The Male Room

Excellent stuff!  Masculine cards are hard to do - ask just about anyone!  Thanks to Marcelle for finding the challenge blog and letting us know about it :o) 

As you can see from the title, my entry is into Challenge # 17: Stash - Use Newsprint.  Now I've seen newsprint and map books etc used on cards but this is my first go at using newsprint myself.  I made sure to choose a page with sports stuff on it - in case someone decided to read it (as I can't help doing myself).

I hope you love it - it was lots of fun to make.  I used my local free newspaper.  Some wax twine I bought from Blitsy. Cardstock in a kraft colour, various Tim Holtz distress inks and black versafine ink for the distressing.  StampinUp inks were used to make the splotches as well.  The sentiment stamp is from Inspired By Stamping: Guy Sentiments.  The cog shapes were cut out on my die cutting machine and secured with a screw 'look' brad.  Oh and I used Stampin Up Gorgeous Grunge* and Hero Arts Brush Strokes* stamp sets.

*Retired/discontinued

Here is my entry into this challenge, I hope you enjoy looking at it as much as I enjoyed making it!

Inside the card, it's light enough to write a message on there

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!

Cheers

Karen

Outlawz Progressive/Freebie Challenge - August 2015

Hi there!  Today I bring you my latest entry for the Outlawz Progressive/Freebie Challenge - August 2015.  

We were so lucky this time to receive a gorgeous digi courtesy of Make It Crafty.  I adored the image called "Wishful Asha" so much that I went and bought some extra digital stamps from their shop.  

I picked up the "In The Garden Collection" and one of those images has been placed behind Wishful Asha to provide a complete picture.  By the way, I find making backgrounds really difficult and this made it so much easier!

Now this was a picture that required a whole lot of relaxing colouring in and believe me, it was lots of fun to colour!  For a first go I'm really pleased with how the whole scene came out, I hope you like it too!

For more inspiration, please visit the gallery at the Outlawz.  The posts for this digital image are tagged with PF09.

Thanks for stopping by and commenting when you do, I appreciate it!

Take Care

Karen

Blooms & Butterfly

Hi there, I hope you're doing well, and enjoying your jaunt around various blogs for inspiration! 

Today I bring you a card I just now finished, as I write this it's 10.55pm on a Monday night.   I find I usually get my crafty mojo late at night.  Being a night owl that suits me just fine, however I do regret it the next day when I can't stop yawning! lol  

This card is pretty much a feast of StampinUp goodies, some old and some new:

Stamp sets: Stippled Blossoms (flowers)^, Butterfly Basics (sentiment) and Watercolour Wings (butterfly) and Dots for Days.

Cardstock: white (from stash) and Blushing Bride.

Inks: Blushing Bride, Craft^, Crisp Cantaloupe^ and Lawn Fawn Wild Rose. 

Others: Pink satin ribbon (from stash), glue dots, stampin dimensionals, multi matte medium glue, wink of stella pen and stardust stickles.

^ retired

For this card, I stamped the flowers on white cardstock, cut it down and glued it to the bottom of the cardbase.  I covered the lower portion and then stamped the dots for days on the upper portion in craft ink.  I cut a slit in the card fold for the ribbon and placed a bow on top with glue dots.  The butterfly was done last night using the pink coloured inks, stickles and wink of stella shimmer pen.  That was glued at the top and a dimensional cut in half and placed under the wings so they remain fluttering.  Finally the sentiment was stamped on the bottom.  I hope you like it!

Thanks as always for stopping by and commenting, many thanks for both!

Cheers

Karen

Hey Baby Baby!

Hi there everyone, I hope you're all having a brilliant day!  Today I'm here to share with you a baby card I made last night!  I haven't generally made that many baby cards so this is me attempting to branch out a bit.

Now I've been a very lucky vegemite (aussie slang) and Mr Taxman has been showering me with crafty goodness :o)  <---- that right there is a big giant grin lol...  So on the weekend, I took a very out-of-the-ordinary-trip (for me) up the Toowoomba Range and visited Spotlight and Kaisercraft.  

Spotlight has a lot less in the way of cardmaking stock than I was expecting.  Although, I did buy a few dies, papers and embossing folders.  

Next on my crafty junket was Kaisercraft.  I discovered the Kaisercraft brand dies are cheaper at Kaisercraft than at Spotlight, however one stencil cost $1 more at Kaisercraft for the same small 6x6 stencil, than at Spotlight.  Kaisercraft kept me occupied for ages, I took the time and checked out EVERYTHING, and bought some more dies, embossing folders and papers. 

Additionally, yesterday Mr Taxman brought me some StampinUp lovliness!  Inks! Stamps and cardstock <3.

This card, made last night, uses one of the stamp sets I bought at Kaisercraft and some of my StampinUp goodies.  Kaisercraft: Pitter Patter and Decorative Die - Die Cut Shapes.  StampinUp: Brushstrokes, Pool Party, Soft Sky and Coastal Cabana^ Inks, as well as Pool Party, Whisper White and Vellum Cardstocks.

I love how it turned out, I hope you do too!

Stay tuned for some more crafty creations coming soon.

Thanks for stopping by and commenting when you get the chance, I do appreciate it!

Cheers

Karen

^retired product

YAY - I WON THIS! : Awesome card from Marika (aka Craftybit) on Youtube

Hi all, just wanted to do a quick post to share with you this awesome card that I won from the lovely Marika (Craftybit on youtube).  I was selected as a winner in a recent drawer and got to choose any card that she'd made to have for my very own.  

The card I chose is of a warrior mermaid.  I just loved the fierceness of this warrior chick and also the colouring of the image and the background.

If you'd like to view her video on making this card, please see it below:

Thanks for stopping by, I totally recommend that you check out Craftybit's channel if you have any interest in copic colouring, she's awesome!

Thanks again Marika!

Cheers

Karen

INSPIRED BY: CHERYL WRIGHT (Cased Card)

Gidday everyone, glad you stopped by.  Today I'm sharing a card with you that I cased from Cheryl Wright.  I loved her design so much and her use of the dies (getting great ideas from her on how to use the dies) that I just had to have a go at copying her card.  *updated*: Cheryl has just posted her card on her blog, you can check it out right here!  

Ok, so I didn't have any pretty paper like she used, with these gorgeous flowers on there, but I found in my stash this beautiful creamy and silver flower design paper and then also some pearlescent cream cardstock that went beautifully with it.  I pinched her grey cardstock idea because it really helped to set off the die cuts perfectly.

At first I was thinking it would make a lovely wedding card, but I had no sentiments that were small enough to fit.  Then I got to thinking "maybe a happy anniversary card..." but again, sentiments were too long, and I didn't want to turn the card around so it was landscape instead of portrait.  Then I found a beautiful sentiment in my Inspired By Stamps set All Year Wishes 2 and turned it into a birthday card - they're my most popular type of card anyway :o)

I hope you like it!

This one shows the shiny embossing and design paper to better effect:

and the inside too:

Thanks for stopping by and commenting when you can, it's always appreciated!

Cheers

Karen

Just Us Girls #JUGS301 - Incorporate Gold

Hi everyone!  I've been inspired this evening by my friend Cheryl and her card for the Jugs challenge number 301 which is incorporating gold.  Now I had to get a move on and quickly make a card and get it in by 9pm (it's 8.45pm now, I had to stop to eat dinner!) lol.  Please click the Trend Week picture to be taken to the challenge page.

I have to say, Wow!  I adore the card that resulted!  I used a stamp set by Gina K Designs, white and gold cardstock and two die cuts from the Spellbinders Shapeabilities Regal Frame.  So without further ado, here is my creation!

The most time consuming part of this card was trying to get the gold frame away from the rest of the cardstock (I put adhesive on the cardstock before cutting).  I must say, all that fiddling was well worth the effort!

I hope you like it, stay tuned for more cards being posted soon!

Thanks for stopping by, I hope I managed to inspire you.

Karen

Just Us Girls Challenge - "Congratulations" (Word Week)

Well hey there, I've been a busy bee at my craft desk today and I absolutely love the card that I came up with.  Firstly, I should add that some of my crafty friends are having a little inspiration challenge of our own and the lovely Marcelle has posted this sketch for us to be inspired by:

Well, let me tell you that I loved the colours on the sketch so much I tried my best to replicate them, although on the screen here there seems to be pink and when I printed it the circle, sentiment, banner and lighter part beneath all printed white, so that's what I used in my card.

Additionally, I'm entering this in the Just Us Girls Challenge (my first ever).  

I added a line of butterflies rather than keeping the banner blank and added a gem trail for my larger butterfly.  I hope you like it!

I need to get back in to my swimming tomorrow so we'll see if I manage to make any more cards this week.  Thanks for stopping by!

Cheers

Karen

Latest creations - Magnetic Bookmark and a Child's Dinosaur Birthday Card

Hi there again.  Below you will find the latest creations (all made this week) from my office/crafty area, which looks like this when it's been cleaned up, but is rarely ever in that state!

Ok, so this first card was made for my workmate Paula, who requested a dinosaur themed birthday card for Andre who turned 3.  I had a lot of fun making this card.  The stamps are all from Lawn Fawn Critters From The Past and I used masking techniques to put some of the images in front of others.  The background was coloured using tim holtz distress inks and a sponge, whist  the images were all watercoloured using the distress markers.  I love how it turned out.  Inside the card I stamped a t-rex because what dino card is complete without a t-rex?  :o)

Now, this one is a magnetic bookmark (showing front and back) that I made for my Mum who loves to read.  She's been using one that I made ages ago and requested a new one a while ago but until this week I wasn't inspired.  My inspiration came from youtube in the form of this video by Sandy Allnock.  I had some adhesive magnets in my stash and thought this was a perfect idea to use them.

The images are from a couple of stampendous stamp sets: Hummingbirds and Jumbo Hydrangea.  The butterfly and flowers were coloured using copic markers, and the flower was watercoloured.  

Finally, I also made a farewell card to a workmate called Scott who is transferring up to Bundaberg.  I'm very annoyed that I deleted the picture of the front of the card off of my phone and it didn't seem to have uploaded with all the rest of my pictures.  I do however have a shot of the inside of the card, which incorporates a gift card holder, that I was quite pleased turned out.

That brings me up to date!  I have a few other challenges to try to enter so if I do I'll be sure to post them here for you to see!  Thanks for stopping by!

Cheers

Karen

The Outlawz Freebie/Progressive Challenge July 2015

Hi there everyone, just jumping in quickly to make my entry for the Outlawz Freebie/Progressive Challenge for July 2015.  The free digi this month was supplied courtesy of Jen at Blueberry Bear Digistamps, she doesn't have her shop open yet but you can visit her at her facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/JencraftyGoodies.

The gallery at the Outlawz can be viewed for inspiration at any time by clicking here, and to see these entries, put in the code PF08 in the box at the top.

This was very difficult for me this digi, it's not my style at all but I did the best I could with it and ended up watercolouring it.  The background was done by inking up a woodgrain embossing folder and printing onto my card front.  It was very spotty, so I went over the woodgrain with my stampinup marker and picked up extra ink and recoloured over it.  I really like how that background came out. 

I hope you've all had a lovely week, I have a few more pictures to share so keep reading posts :o)

Cheers, thanks for stopping by!

Karen

The Outlawz Freebie/Progressive Challenge June 2015

Hi everyone, I had to quickly jump in and share the card I only just now finished making for the Outlawz Freebie Progressive Challenge entry for June 2015.  The free digital image was kindly given by Anne's Digital Art.  That's one of the positives of being in this challenge, it pushes me to make a blog entry at least once a month!  *smile*

Ok, so for this entry I wasn't too happy with my colouring as I can see the texta strokes in the background.  After thinking about how I could fix it I ended up covering the entire panel in clear wink of stella which sort of masked the texta strokes.  Now I still didn't much like how my piece had turned out, but then I put some strips of green scallop punched cardstock around it and a sentiment and now I like it much more :o)  I hope you do too!

For inspiration, please check out their gallery here.

If you would like to join the challenge then email them with your email address.  You can find all the details here.

I have been asked to make a birthday card featuring dinosaurs and a farewell card to a workmate relocating to Bundaberg so stay tuned for some more creations coming this week.

Thanks for stopping by!

Cheers

Karen

A Special Birthday

Hi there!  Sorry that I haven't been keeping up with my blog, but the time just keeps flying by so fast!  

I jumped in quickly to share with you a card that I made using some of the supplies I spoiled myself with at the Brisbane Scrapbook and Papercraft Expo 2015.  Seriously, I did some damage to the credit card, but it was my 40th so I figured I would only be 40 once.  Maybe I'll get to splurge again like that on my 50th! lol.  

Anyway, among my spoils were various sets of stamps and dies from Stampendous.  I made my first pop up card using their special pop up die and the forest set.  Here is a link to their website if you want to check some of their products out.  I think they're in America though.  

Several boo boos were made during this card, but I really love how it turned out, I hope you do too!

Well I'll try to pop in now and then, but until next time, stay crafty!

Cheers

Karen

The Outlawz Freebie/Progressive Challenge - May 1st 2015

Well hello there all!  I will need to do a few blog entries (hopefully over this weekend to catch you up on some stuff), but tonight I must do my entry for The Outlawz Freebie/Progressive Challenge for May before it's too late!

This month we got a free digi image from Ppinky Dolls.  I found this image a little challenging to colour as it has a lot of tonal grey that prints on the image but after my second attempt, I'm pretty happy with her.  What do you think?  

Feel free to visit the gallery for more inspiration here.  Remove the PF06 for full inspiration from the site wide entries.

I hope you like my little cutie, take care and happy crafting!

Cheers

Karen

The Outlawz Freebie/Progressive Challenge - April 1st 2015

Happy Easter everyone!  I hope you're enjoying this lovely long weekend, I sure have :o)  Today I'm sharing my entry into the latest challenge at The Outlawz.  The digi we received this month was a lovely frog courtesy of Encino Stamps.

My original thought was "What am I going to do with a FROG?"  lol.  But it has really made me think outside the box and I love what I came up with.  I googled some images of frogs and lilypads and that's what got me my direction.  

I've coloured the frog in with copic markers and the lily pads are circles punched out and then I cut the lily pad shape into them with some cutterbee scissors (my favourite for fussy cutting).  The background is watercolour paper that I went to town on with every blue distress ink I have.  That's the first time I've done that ink the surface, spray with water and dip paper into it technique and I love how that turned out.  Inside the card is the other part of the A4 sheet of watercolour paper, so it's nice blue water inside.

I hope you enjoy my creation.  To check out the other entries please click here :o)

Thank you for stopping by and have a safe and happy Easter everyone!

The Outlawz Freebie/Progressive Challenge - March 1st 2015

Hi there everyone, I hope you're all happy and healthy and having fun!  I have a new creation to share with you that I think is quite cute :o)

A couple days ago I joined the Outlawz Freebie/Progressive challenge and this is my first ever entry.  As soon as I saw one of my friends had coloured this digi image, I was hooked and so wanted it in my arsenal! lol.  Well the rules are that you join the site and then also join whatever competitions they have that interest you (they have a lot!) and then, for this particular challenge, they send you the digi of the month and you link your picture to their gallery using the code and hey presto entry done!  If this has worked I'll add the link here for you :o)

I have a few more cards that I'll share soon, waiting for one to be received first - can't ruin it!

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Cased Card from Papercraft Essentials - (Copy And Share with Everyone)

Hello lovely peoples!  It's time for another card to hopefully brighten your day!  This time I did something I have rarely ever done, I would hazard a guess that this may be the second or third time that I've ever copied a card.

As soon as I saw this card in Papercraft Essentials magazine Issue 41, page 9, I knew 2 things:

1. I had to get that lovely die and,
2. I had to have a go at copying this card which was created by Dawny  Phillips!

The magazine had a free paper pack and birthday stamp from Lili of the Valley and this card was one of 6 featured in the magazine for using the free gift.

Here is the card that I cased:

And here is the card I made:

I'm really pleased with how it turned out, I must say.  I really need practice in using my patterned papers, I have so many but the collection keeps growing so I need to start using them more often.  This was a great way to do that!  Plus, I was stepping outside my box using so many different patterns, but as they all came from the paper pack, they all coordinate really well together!

I hope you've enjoyed seeing this CASE and hope to bring you more in the future!

Take care and happy crafting!

Mum's Love

G'day everyone, I hope you're having a nice day or night!  I just wanted to share my latest creation with you.  This one has been made using another recent StampinUp purchase (I had a big order delivered last week).  The stamp set is called Mum's Love - and I had to buy it because it's spelled as Mum, not Mom...which is so wrong to me being an australian, when I see the word Mom that's how I say it like Mon with an m at the end.

Anyway, I digress!  So easily done, I know.  I played around with this stamp set and also dry embossed the front of the card with my new SU Spring Flowers embossing folder.  The cardstock is from my stash (from my newsagent) but is a perfect match to the SU Tempting Turquoise ink.  I also used SU ink Wild Wasabi, Garden Green, Perfect Plum and Strawberry Slush.

It's a very simple one layer card, but I think it's turned out really quite pretty!  I hope you like it too :o)

Thanks for stopping by, and happy crafting to you all!

Gorjuss Ladybird

Good evening everyone, I hope you're having a fun time reading blogs and being inspired!

I just popped in to share this card I finished tonight with you all.  And hopefully there'll be a few more posts because the weekend has arrived, yay!

This card features a Santoro Gorjuss girl image from the stamp set Gorjuss Ladybird.  And fittingly enough, I've included a Stampin Up punch and stamp combo Four Frames with the Decorative Label punch (which actually has a bird in the image!)

The cardstocks I used are SU's Elegant Eggplant and a pinky purple cardstock from my stash.  The image was coloured using Tim Holtz distress markers and a SU blender pen on Strathmore watercolour paper.  (I think I did a pretty close match to the image on the stampset).

The flowers are also from my stash and have pearls in the centres.  Oh and I also used another SU punch for the scalloped parts on the sides of the main image.  I should also add that the white background behind her has been dry embossed with SU folder called Happy Heart.

I hope you enjoyed viewing my card, thanks for stopping by!

Happy crafting to you!

Cheers