What I've been up to and some flowery notelets

Hello Crafty Friends, here I am back from our short holiday.

It's funny not having blogged for a couple of weeks. I rather missed it, but it has been nice to return from holiday a little bit more refreshed, having made use of grandparents and sister for some baby sitting. It's a win-win situation for all involved! 

I managed a bit of colouring and got into the groove of drawing lines over at Kathy Racoosin's Pop Up Colouring Challenge. Here are my attempts:

Pre-Challenge Day - 13th August- Pitt Artist Pen and Zig Clean Color Brushes

 Day 1 - 14th August - Pitt Artist Pen and Zig Clean Color Brushes

Day 3 - 16th August - Help from Anne with Spectrum Aqua Markers

Day 4 - 17th August - Stabilo Fine Line .88 tip

I rather like the result of the boat on the ocean and the abstract railway lines/ladders, so I may frame them for the craft room.

Keep checking IG and The Daily Marker for more details of the upcoming 30 Day Colouring Challenge in October.

So, what else did I get up to crafty wise on holiday. Not a huge amount other than the challenge, as I tried not to take too many supplies, but when you're on holiday and you don't have children running around you, you tend to buy things....

I bought a new camera. A Nikon P530. It's a refurbished model that I found in a camera shop in Ayr. A friend of mine has since told me it's a good model to start with, and it has taken some nice pictures so far. Now to think about editing software!

I enrolled in an Online Card Class. It's the Copic Markers for Card Makers. It's going to take me some time to get round to doing any of the sessions given small children, but I love that I can dip in and out. I also need to think about which markers to buy, as I finally understand the numbering system!

I also bought a new printer. I decided it was time to get one that would also be good for crafty downloads and pictures - it definitely helps with the card class. It's the Canon PIXMA MG6450 - ours is white. It has WiFi connectivity - I feel dead modern!

The die set I'd been waiting on from Simon Says Stamp came back in stock, so I did a bit of an order to them too..... I'll share with you over on Instagram when they arrive. If you're not on IG, and you are a crafter, think about joining. It's a lovely crafty community.

And I finally got round to finishing off a commission from my mother in law for some more notelets. This time it's a set of 6 3.5x3.5 inch cards, with images from my favourite CB stamp set heat embossed and coloured using pencils. I went the whole hog and made a little box for them using my WRMK Envelope Punch board - it took me several attempts, but I finally did it! 

[Supplies: CB Miniature Florals stamp set; Kraft pre-cut card blanks; Versa Mark Ink Pad; WOW! Bright White Embossing Powder; Derwent Artists Pencils; Bazzill Basics 12x12 card; WRMK Envelope Punch Board; Double-sided tape; Docrafts Papermania Heat Tool; Anti-static Pad]

So there you are, a round up of what's been going on craft wise in the past couple of weeks. 

Thank you as always for reading and any comments you may leave. It really makes my day! Happy Crafting!

Pop Up Colouring Challenge 14th-17th August

Hi Crafty Folks! So we're still on holiday, but I had to pop on and let you know about Kathy's Pop Up Colouring Challenge. It's on from 14th-17th August and is to keep us all going as we prepare for the full colouring challenge in October.

Check out Kathy's blog post all about it:

http://www.thedailymarker.com/2015/08/its-two-challenges-giveaway/

Best place to check it out is on Instagram and you can follow Kathy at @kathyrac. It's a great chance to start colouring if you're new to it, and just spend some time with friends scribbling - you do not have to be an expert! It's all about learning and having fun.

One child is asleep, the other is resisting, so I had better sign off and see what is going on :)

See you all at the weekend, get those coloured pencils dusted off!

Shell-abrate

Happy Friday, Crafty Friends! So we're up in Scotland on holiday and I find it's hard to have a day go by without crafting something now, but it has been nice having a break from the usual routine and seeing family and friends. 

Onto my card! I made this a couple of weeks ago using my current favourite stamp set, Newton's Nook In Slow Motion. When this set was released, I saw a fabulous card by Taheerah Atchia on their blog which had used loads of masking using the little envelope stamps. I thought I'd have a try and make a birthday card for a friend.

Supplies: Newton's Nook In Slow Motion Stamp Set; Ranger Dye Inks; Various Copic Ciaos; Lawn Fawn Let's Polka 6x6 paper pad; Fun Foam; Post It Notes (for masking); Memento Tuxedo Black Ink; Double Sided Super Sticky Red tape

I really like how it turned out, especially the masking of the worm and the envelopes. I started by taking some Copic friendly paper and cut it to size (9x14.75cm) to fit across my card blank. I drew a light pencil line at 2.5cm so I had something solid to stamp on and the critters didn't go all wonky. I stamped the tortoise and then got to masking out my pile of letters. I used both little letters and stamped them 5 times on sticky post it note and cut them out and started stamping and masking, stamping and masking until I got the colourful little pile I wanted. Here's a little picture during the process. The paper at either side of the image is to protect it from smudges - a little late, as it got a couple of thumb prints on it before I put it down :(

I then masked the edge of the pile and also stamped a little party hat next to it and masked it off. I then stamped the worm as if he was peeping out of the pile of letters. Cute!

I then got to colouring with my Copics. I do really like these, and am trying to get in as much practice as possible, but I need to get a few more in green and blue. Once they were coloured in I stamped the sentiment in the corner and also trimmed the panel to get rid of the thumb prints. I then stuck some LF paper on the card base and attached the panel with fun foam and red tape. 

I'm amused by the results and hope you are too! As always, thanks for visiting, I really do appreciate it, and any comments you leave. Have a great weekend, as always!