The Colo[u]ring Challenge Road Trip - Edinburgh and craft room news

Back in August, after some deliberation I booked a rail ticket and some cheap accommodation in Edinburgh for the first ever Coloring Challenge Road Trip with Kathy Racoosin and Debby Hughes. I decided it was too good an opportunity to miss out on seeing some superb colourists and crafters so close to home.

The day itself was beautiful and we sat in a room upstairs in the Botanic Gardens colouring in chatting. 7 of us plus Kathy, her sister and Debby, it was a small affair, but I liked the intimate atmosphere.

We all got given a little zip up bag full of goodies, including a Lawn Fawn Stamp Shammy and a cute little clipboard and some images to colour.

Kathy and Debby are inspirational people and really really lovely. They even agreed to pose for some crazy photos with me (and Morag too)

 I even got to use Kathy's favourite pencils....

 and the famous rag....

A lot of time and effort went into this event, I could tell, and I appreciate all that both did for us.

If you are thinking about it, I can tell you it was definitely very very very worth it! Meeting Kathy and Debby in person, as well as the other ladies who had travelled to it (one from Minnesota!!!!!), was wonderful. I'm the kind of person who needs a kick every now and again with my crafting and colouring and I find these kinds of events help. I get the chance to get away from the house and small people to spend time to myself - it's the headspace I need to give me a boost. Doing it with some amazing crafters was the icing on the cake.

I had to leave early just after Debby's demonstration of watercolouring a galaxy background (I want Daniel Smith now!), so unfortunately I didn't get in the final photo, but I didn't mind. I got to Waverley station to find my train was late but this lovely Black 5 came in on platform 20, so that was the perfect end to my day.

And in other news, my craft room currently looks like this....

I can get to my desk and know where a lot of my stash is! I hope to actually get making again within the next week, with luck. I need to start getting on with Christmas cards.

I've also received some more wonderful happy mail this week from Tina and Niki
B. Thank you ladies. It's so lovely to be reminded of why we make cards - they have made me smile!

 
That's all for me for now. Thank you so much for reading. Happy Crafting everyone!! xx

30 Day Coloring Challenge - Week 4 Round Up - the end!

Hi All. I know the challenge finished last week, but we have been on holiday and without WiFi - I know, in this day and age ;)... but seriously much as I love it, it was quite nice to get away from social media for a while.

I did do some colouring during the last week of the challenge and here is my round up. Although I didn't colour every day, I did colour multiple images on the days I did.

Day 28: I had a whole day to myself and I took the opportunity to meet up with a crafty friend not too far from where we were staying. I took my bag of Copic markers and coloured pencils and some pre stamped images and coloured on the train. [Sorry, but I can't find details for the rose stamp, but I got it from Make Your Mark in York]

Day 31: I carried on colouring after the end of the challenge because I had supplies and time. This time, some more Copic images. These digital stamps are by 2CuteInk and were a freebie with my magazine.

Day 32: We were visiting my in laws (the reason we holidayed where we did!) and while one little one had a rest in the back garden, and the other one watched a bit of telly, I got my Cotman Water Colour set and did a whole pile of water colouring.

Below is a list of the ink, paper and colouring mediums used. Please note I DO NOT USE affiliate links.

Sugar Pea Designs Quackers	Winsor & Newton Cotman Watercolour Sketcher's Pocket Box Paint	WHSmith Watercolour Paper 12 Sheets - Art, Craft and Hobbies	Derwent Artists Pencils 12 Tin	Copic Markers	Simply Cards and Papercraft Issue 150	*Neenah Classic Crest **110 LB** SMOOTH SOLAR WHITE Paper Pack 25 Sheets	Lawn Fawn Mermaid for You
Viking	Memento Tuxedo Black	Ranger Archival Ink Jet Black	Versamark Watermark Ink	WOW! Bright White Embossing Powder

InLinkz.com

Here endeth the fifth 30 Day Coloring Challenge. A massive thank you to Kathy Racoosin, the brains behind it all, and to everyone who has watched and commented on my Instagram, blog posts and videos. You are all amazing and all inspirational too!

Some of these will be turned into cards in due course, so keep your eyes peeled on here.

Thank you, as always, for your reading and for your lovely comments. Have a good one!

30 Day Coloring Challenge - Week 3 Round Up

How did we manage to get to day 25? It just flies by - and I'm still having fun. I've managed colouring every day this week and even made a few cards, as well as a video, and tried a few techniques. So, without further ado, here is my round up of this week's challenge. 

Day 18: I got completely sucked into the melonizing challenge that Pepita came up with and did this little Clearly Besotted bird.

Day 19: I got on an extremely over crowded and hot train to York for the day to meet some friends in Betty's and took some Copic markers (in my little bag!) and some pre stamped images. Our cool and empty train on the way back provided some colouring time.

Day 20: I could not resist melonizing Sven - and I won a gift token for Create a Smile stamps for my efforts! There's a video to go with this of the process :)

Day 21: I coloured in a panel using Simon Says Stamp One with Nature set using Gansai Tambi. I'm still not sure about this card, but everyone on Instagram was very supportive, with lots of ideas. I've decided to leave it as is for the moment - I quite like it, and don't want to meddle with it and possibly ruin it :)

I also tried my hand at a slider card using my little chameleon I coloured earlier on in the challenge:

Day 22: Some stencilling with distress inks. I really love this look and realise I only have three stencils!

Day 23: A bit of ink smooshing with distress inks. I love this challenge for making me try new techniques. I like that there's no pressure to make cards, just try things and colour.

Day 24: Some colouring on Kraft with coloured pencils whilst the children played in the garden. We've invested in a sand pit and slide so I can get them both outside as much as possible. They were even out in the rain in the afternoon!

Day 25: I used my Spectrum Aqua markers for the first time in ages. I do love them for creating backgrounds. I added some distress ink splatters.

  Below is a list of the stamps, paper and colouring media I used. Please note I DO NOT USE affiliate links.

Hobbycraft Kraft Mini Cards - 9x9 cm	Derwent Artists Pencils 12 Tin	Create a Smile Botanical Love	Clearly Besotted Colour Chameleon	Simon Says Clear Stamps ONE WITH NATURE	Spectrum Noir Sparkle Pens - Shades of Spring	Spectrum Noir Sparkle Pens - Clear	Clearly Besotted Brushed Greetings II
Mini Distress Ink Pad - All Colours	Viking	Copic Markers	Some Birdie Loves You	Simply Cards and Papercraft Issue 150	*Neenah Classic Crest **110 LB** SMOOTH SOLAR WHITE Paper Pack 25 Sheets	Spectrum Aqua Markers - Primary

InLinkz.com

Thank you so much for taking the time to read, and for your lovely comments. I hope you're all enjoying crafting, whether you are colouring or not :)