The Queen of Hearts

Whoo hoo!!! Done it, finally!

Tim's 12 Tags of 2013

Hi everyone,

Yes, my Tim tag is done - phew!!  Really didn't think I was going to make this month.  February has flown by so quickly.  I haven't done everything on the list, but, tomorrow is the start a new month, so there'll be a new list.  It's going to be a busy month I can tell.  First off it's my birthday - yeah! (21 again).   I have a few days away on the Indigo Blu Craft Retreat - can't wait!  It's the GNPE in Harrogate (lots of crafty stash to buy), and Lauren and Alex are back over again.

Anyway, on to my February Tag .........

Not quite the same as Tim's, but then again, it never is! 
As usual, I had a few bits missing from the supplies list.  The stamp being the main thing. However I did have a set of playing card stamps from Woodware that had the Queen of Hearts in it, so panic over.
I did think about using an actual playing card instead.  Seeing as how the other half used to play Poker for a living, there's no shortage of playing cards in our house.  Then I thought that was cheating a little - no watercolouring to do, so I decided against it.

I followed the master's instructions and stamped the Queen twice, onto watercolour card and used my Distress markers to colour her in.  The markers work beautifully on the watercolour card, they blend so easily with a touch of water. 
The tag itself was coloured using Distress stains, layering the colours, drying in between, and spritzing with water.

I stamped the image onto the tag, using Black Archival ink, made a mask to cover it, and stamped the image again either side. Then added my coloured Queen over the top of the centre image  I used a small heart from the same stamp set, to add a bit more interest to the top of the tag

I didn't have any of the seasonal embossed Kraft core cardstock, so a quick rummage through my embossing folders, and a search through my bit box for a piece of black Kraftcore, and this is how it turned out .....

Not bad ....... still the heart/valentine theme. 
I finished it off with some bakers twine, made the Cash Key using a bit of inked watercolour card and some Chit Chat stickers.  My pointing finger stamp is from a PaperArtsy set.

It was a bit of a rush job, but at least I made it - with a few hours to spare!   I wasn't going to miss doing my Tag now was I?! 

I'm hoping to join in with Tim's latest Tattered Florals challenge (it's one of my favourite dies). Check out his blog, there's some fabulous inspiration on there from people who have already given it a go.
Mine's going to have to wait until next week though.  The old craft room door will be closing for a couple of days this weekend, I have a friend arriving tomorrow morning, and staying for the weekend.   We've loads of catching up to do.  I will be posting on the Creative Studios DT Blog first though- if I get my project finished that is.

And on that note, I'd better be off.

Thanks for popping by today.  Have a lovely weekend and I'll see you all again soon.

Cheerio for now

Linda

x

Time for a quick coffee break ......

Morning everyone,

Just a quickie today.  We have to get Lauren and Alex packed and to the airport as they're flying home this afternoon.  They're back over again in March, so not long until we see them.  I've just about time to tidy up before they're back here.  He may only be small, but boy can he make a mess! The lounge looks as though a tornado has hit.

I've just got time for a quick coffee break and to share this weeks Less is More entry.  I managed some 'speed crafting' yesterday while trouble was out of the way.

We're on Week 108 and the theme is .....

PAPER PIERCING

Now this is something that I never think of doing on my cards, until I see it on someone elses.  This is what I came up with ......

You may have to click on the picture to get a better look at my paper piercing, but it's actually the 'steam' coming off the coffee cups.  Not very original I know, but I was struggling to come up with something.
The cups, and the sentiment are both from a pretty little Stampin Up set called 'Tea Shoppe', and I've used Memento inks to stamp with. 

Sorry it's a bit short and sweet, lots to do today.  Once Lauren and Alex are on their way home, I have to get the spare room ready again.  We have another visitor coming this weekend - my friend Sue (who I haven't seen in ages) is making her first trip to the island.  Another weekend of sightseeing coming up.  Let's hope the weather holds.  It's been glorious the last few days, a bit on the chilly side though. We got a bit blown about at Peel Castle over the weekend.

The cold didn't seem to stop Alex though, he wanted to look at everything ..... including the armour that was on show .....

You could actually try it all on, but he decided against it in the end.

Before my next visitor arrives I still have a few projects that need doing before the end of Feb. - no pressure eh!  My Timmie tag being the most important one (I know, I can't believe I haven't done it yet either!)  Hopefully I'll be back with it tomorrow, if I can get it finished, otherwise I'll be doing a bit of late night crafting and blogging - it's March on Friday (eeek!!).

Thanks for stopping by today.  Enjoy your Wednesday.

Don't forget it's my day to post over on the Indigo Blu DT Blog  This week, I've got a couple of my samples from the show at the weekend, to show you if you fancy a quick look later this afternoon.  I'll see you over there later.

Cheerio for now

Linda

x

How to ........ Cloudy Sky

Helloooooo,

How is everyone?  I've had a lovely family weekend with my brother and his bunch.  It was the first time they'd been over to the island so a lot of the time was spent sightseeing, and showing them around the place, and a lot of eating out (nom! nom!)
They're already planning their next trip, a weekend just wasn't long enough.  And the fact that it was freezing cold while they were here didn't put them off coming back again.

'Trouble' also arrived on the island at the weenkend, aka Alex, my grandson ......... and the house has not been the same since.
He's a bit of a handful shall we say, but I love having him here.

outside Peel Castle

First stop was the local toy shop to pick up some new train bits, then of course the main job of the day was to set it all up, with help from Grandad ....

It's like Kings Cross station in our lounge - trains coming and going all day.  And of course Thomas the Tank Engine has to be on the TV as well!!

I've managed to quietly sneak away to the old craft room for a little while, to do the 'How To' I promised last week. I'm going to have to be quick though,  before Alex finds me.  He'll want to 'help'!

Here we go ....

A quick and easy way to make a cloudy sky

This is a technique I use quite a bit, and I've had a few comments lately asking how I do it.   It's so simple and really effective. 

All you need is some cardstock, a piece of copy paper, a blue ink pad (I use Distress Ink) and something to apply the ink with.  I always use stencil brushes to apply my Distress ink (Dreamweaver ones), but you can use whatever you're comfortable with - blending tool, sponge, even a piece of paper towel would do.

Cut yourself a cloud shape from the copy paper, just free-hand, you don't need to be precise.  This is mine that I've had for months .......

well used isn't it!  I've cut a new one for today though .....
Take your cloud and place it towards the top of your card where you want your sky to be .......
Hold it in place and gently apply the blue ink around the edge.  I start on the stencil and then gradually move off onto the cardstock.  Remember, you can always add more ink to make it darker, you can't take it away if you apply too much.  Start with very little ink on your brush/sponge and build it up gradually.

 Move your stencil around the card leaving some white space inbetween, and repeat the inking process around the edge of your cloud stencil, until you have your sky.

To make things look as if they are floating in the clouds (balloons, aeroplanes, butterflies etc.) you need to stamp this image first, make a mask to cover it up,

and then ink your clouds in with the mask in place.

This way the blue ink doesn't alter the colour of the main image.

And there you have it .......  clouds in the sky

That's me done for today.
I think I've been rumbled.  I can hear the sound of tiny feet coming down the hallway and was that 'Grandma'
I just heard.

Thanks for popping by today.  I'll be posting on the Indigo Blu DT Blog tomorrow with some of my show samples from weekend.   You can also find me on the Craftwork Cards Blog today with a cute little Mother's Day project if you fancy a look.

a sneaky peek

Enjoy your day.  Cheerio for now.

Linda

x

Sneak peeks and a couple of reminders ......

Hi there,

Just a quickie before the madness of the weekend starts.
My brother and his family arrived on the island this morning, it's the first time they've been.  And I've got Lauren and Alex coming tomorrow, so we have a house full.  Just the way I like it!  I've still got a bit of tidying up to do though, so this will have to be short and sweet.

Just wanted to remind you that Kay is on the telly with Indigo Blu on Sunday - Sky channel 671/Freeview 36/Freesat 813 at 9am and 2pm.  Set your Sky boxes now, you won't want to miss it.

Here's a little sneaky peek of one of my samples that went in the post yesterday .......

And don't forget about the new Forever 21 Challenge Blog over at Indigo Blu.  Have you entered yet?  It's well worth giving it a go, the winners prize is HUGE!!!!
 

As it's Friday, it's my regular weekly post over on the Creative Studios DT Blog.  Check out what I've been up to this week .......

There's also a Guest Designer this week over on Sam's Blog.  The lovely Tracy Evans has been working with the Sam's new Art Houses and she's done a great little project, with full details.  Well worth a look.

That's it from me today.  A nice family weekend is coming up.  Stephen's home from work at lunchtime, and it's tea out this evening so we're off to a good start.

I hope you have a lovely weekend too, and I'll see you all next week.

Cheerio for now

Linda

x

Forever 21!

Happy Thursday everyone,

What an exciting day it is today.  The wait is over, all the hinting is done and the BIG day is finally here.  Yes, the Indigo Blu 'Forever 21' Challenge Blog  has gone live this morning.  What do you think?  The Forever 21 bit is because we've all decided that's what we'd like to be! so the 21st was a good day to launch.

It's going to be a monthly challenge, with a different theme each month.  Don't worry, we'll keep them relatively easy (to begin with  -  mwahhaha!!!!!!).  There's going to be fab prizes for the winner and of course a Winners Badge for you to proudly display on your Blogs.
There'll be a new challenge starting on the 21st of each month, so there's plenty of time for you to design something fabulous.  All we ask is that you follow the challenge rules - there's not many (see the Blog post for details)  Your entry can be anything at all,  so you can make cards, mini books, scrapbook pages, tags, altered art, you choose, just stick to the monthly theme.  There's a Linky thingy at the end of the post for you to enter your projects.  

Exciting eh!  Well, here goes our first challenge ......

This month's theme is...........    

BLUE

(we couldn't start with anything else really ..... could we!)

We want to see gorgeous Blue projects - now that can be anything at all.  I've started off with a card .......

Challenge #1   Blue

This is definitely BLUE.  It's a nice big 8x8 card and I've used the Live Laugh Love stamp set.

I made my background using Pan Pastels, blended onto a piece of the Indigo Blu Perfect Stamping Card.  I then stamped the flower randomly all over using Versamark ink and sponged over the top again with Pan Pastels.  The tacky ink picks up the colour and Voila! you get your stamped image.  Next, the tricky part (if you can call it that).  I cut myself a few masks for the flower.  The easiest, and quickest way to do this is to stamp the image onto a pad of  Post It notes, making sure that part of it is actually over where the sticky bit is.  Take off however many sheets you need - I did 6,  keep them all stuck together.  Carefully cut around your stamped image, and there you go, all your masks done at once. 

Carefully mask off the flowers, you don't need to do all of them at once, just cover the ones in the area where your background stamp is going to go.  I used the Crackleglaze background and stamped using a blue Versafine ink.  Repeat over the whole of the card, moving your masks as you go.

Using one of the Rotating erasers (available on the website) I then 'coloured' my flowers.  Well, actually I supposed I took the colour away, but you know what I mean.  Made them white!  Added a piece of navy satin ribbon across the bottom,  and there you have it, background done.

I stamped more of the flowers, some leaves and the cute little bird, in Deep Lagoon Versafine ink, then cut them all out.  The little chap's been coloured using Pan Pastels again, then I've taken the colour away, just touches here and there on his wings, just to highlight.

Using my cut out flowers and leaves, along with a few paper flowers, some pearls and a beautiful Memory Box Flourish, I made a pretty arrangement in the bottom corner of my card and added a navy satin ribbon bow.

The sentiment has been stamped and cut out using one of the Nestabilites dies, inked around the edge with the die still in place with a touch of Distress ink, then layered onto some navy cardstock.

I added the little bird to finish it all off.   I don't use a lot of blue in my card making, but I like how this has all come together.

Check out the Challenge Blog to see more great 'Blue' designs from the rest of the DT.

Have we inspired you to enter?  I've said there's a monthly prize, well with it being the first challenge it's a rather special prize..........  Indigo Blu goodies to the value of a whopping £125!!!!  Yes, the lucky winner of the first Forever 21 Challenge will recieve a Flitter Glu Starter Kit, a tube of the brand new Kroma Crackle, and all 8 brand new stamp plates launching on Create and Craft on Sunday - yes, can you believe all 8 of them!!  Wow! what a prize.  But,as the saying goes .......  you have to be in it to win it.  So get crafting!!

The winner will be chosen by Mr random.org on the 20th March and will be showcased on the next Challenge Blog post.  Good luck!

Thanks for popping by.  Have a great 'Blue' day.

Cheerio for now

Linda

x