Valentine's Sven

So here we are half way through Half Term, it's Valentine's Day AND Ash Wednesday. There's a lot going on. I felt the need to break out Sven to make my husband's card. I love Sven. I can't seem to stop colouring him - I made this card a couple of years ago!

I've used quite a lot of NBUS (Never Before Used Schtuff - see Darnell for more details on this!) from my January haul video, including the heart stencil and stitched heart peekaboo die both from MFT.

Sven is coloured in with Copic markers and then fussy cut. I used some Barn Door distress ink with the stencil on a white card blank and then covered it over with some red card which I'd die cut using the Peekaboo die. I popped it up on foam tape.

I popped Sven into the opening using some more foam tape - I wanted you to see him rather than covering him all up - and the sentiment is from the Clearly Besotted Tiny Type set.

Lots of red, lots of Sven. What's not to love? Happy Crafting and thanks for popping by :)

As for Lent.... I shall be giving up chocolate and crisps for the next 40 days and donating some money to the British Heart Foundation. Wish me luck!

Masking a Scene with Clearly Besotted Stamps - VIDEO

Hello everyone! How are you all? I'm back to share a card I made for my Dad's 70th birthday. It was the perfect excuse to use my uninked vikings from a recent Clearly Besotted Stamps haul (don't cry, they'll be back in January!).

Yes - I had to add in Sven as well! My Dad doesn't have a big ginger beard (his brother does, however!), but he does have three girls, so here we all are making him feel loved.

I started off by stamping and then masking my viking children using my MISTI. I then stamped Sven on top and removed the masks - I love how something so simple can create a great scene.

I then did some Copic colouring before die cutting the card and adding in the sentiment from Mama Elephant's Photo Bomb set. I then popped it up on foam pads and adhered it to a top folding A2 (US) card base covered with Lawn Fawn plaid paper.

You can watch the video here or on my YouTube channel:

Below is a list of supplies that I used to make this card. Please note I do not use affiliate links.

Clearly Besotted Hip Hip Hooray	Viking	Mama Elephant Photo Bomb	Tonic Titanium Fine Control Scissors	Hobbycraft Clear Acrylic Stamping Block 10.1 x 7 cm	My Sweet Petunia - MISTI Mini	Memento Tuxedo Black	Lawn Fawn Stamp Shammy
Copic Markers	*Neenah Classic Crest **110 LB** SMOOTH SOLAR WHITE Paper Pack 25 Sheets	Simon Says Stamp SHAPES WITH STITCHES SetSS160 In Stitches	Sizzix Big Shot Die Cutting Machine	Tonic Studios Maxi Guillotine	Lawn Fawn Perfectly Plaid 6x6 Paper Pad	A4 Super Smooth White Card - 250gsm - 100 Sheets	Martha Stewart Mini Scoreboard

InLinkz.com

Before I sign off, I just wanted to let you all know that The Daily Marker 30 Day Colouring Challenge starts its 6th outing on 1st November - I hope some of you are planning on joining me again - it's good fun!

Thank you so much for visiting today. Have a fabulous weekend whatever you are doing :)

Sven and the Seven Hills Crafts Challenge

Hello All! Hope everyone has had a great week? I've been missing the 30 Day Colouring Challenge and all the fun of seeing everyone's work, but I know it will be back later in the year so I have something to look forward to. 

I started off the challenge by colouring Sven the incredibly handsome Viking, and I ended up colouring him in on the last day too. That last Inktense coloured image I decided to turn into a card for this month's Seven Hills Crafts Monthly Craft Challenge - I'm not sure I'll manage to top my runner's up spot from last month, but it's worth a try (see my challenge wins list!)

It's a sketch challenge this month, and I kept it simple so everyone can admire Sven's beard.  I coloured him in muted earthy tones and die cut him with a SSS stitched square. I then took a piece scrap Neenah and stamped a tiny heart from my Lawn Fawn Best Pun Ever set in Ranger Classic Cherry several times. I die cut it out  with a small stitched circle.

What a hunk! Anyway, back to the card. I took a piece of Lawn Fawn Perfectly Plaid, cut slightly smaller than A2 and added some twine around it. I then adhered it to an A2 card base.

I added Sven on top and the heart on foam pads in the corner. It was really very simple!

Below is a list of what I used to make this card and where I purchased them. Please note I DO NOT USE affiliate links :)

InLinkz.com

Thank you so much for reading. Have a great weekend, whatever you are up to :)

30 Day Colouring Challenge + The return of Sven, the Avery Elle Viking

Hello my fellow crafty chums! Another week goes by and finally January is over. I don't know about you but I find January a hard month to get through - I always seem to have so much on - but now we're into February and another colouring challenge is upon us and I get to spend loads of time colouring and crafting - all for fun!

Who else is joining in? I spend a ridiculous amount of time on Instagram during the challenge, so please join me there if you can and say hello. I love seeing what everyone else is doing and get loads of inspiration from all your posts.

Today's card is inspired by Kathy's first post - her amazing kaleidoscope card - and being desperate to try out my Polychromos on water colour card a la Julia Altermann. I coloured in Sven again. I can't seem to stay away from him - he's terribly handsome, suave and charming, just like my husband ;)

Polychromos pencils are amazing. They are even more amazing on water colour card. It's like a light bulb moment and I think I'll use this from now on.

You can see the colour better in this close up of hunky Sven.

I still have a lot to work on, but I like how his beard turned out and will be using these pencils a lot, so a worthwhile investment.

So onto the card itself. I took a 14.5 x14.5 cm card blank and covered it with some patterened paper I won in a giveaway from the lovely and talented Liz McGuire. I then took two white pieces of card slightly smaller than the card front, and using my circle dies, cut out a circle from the centre of each one - one bigger than the other. I fussy cut Sven out (there is a die that goes with it, but I like fussy cutting!) and stuck him in the middle, using multi medium matte glue and placed the smaller aperture on top with double sided tape. I then attached the larger aperture on top with foam pads for dimension. 

The heart I found in a pack of scrap booking bits that also came from Liz. I attached it with foam pads - had to be done!

I don't usually go all out for Valentine's Day, but I thought I might as well get into the spirit of things and have loads to choose from for my husband :)

[Supplies: Avery Elle Viking; Faber Castell Polychromos pencils; Ranger Archival Jet Black ink; WH Smith Water colour paper 12 sheets; White card blank; white card 250gsm; Spellbinders Nestabilities Standard Circles Large; Foam Pads; Ranger multi medium matte; Double sided tape; Paper pad and heart from stash]

I hope you're going to get involved in the challenge - it is a lot of fun and colouring is so relaxing. 5 minutes a day in a colouring book is all that is required :)

Don't forget the latest release for Clearly Besotted is due on Friday at 10pm - the pirates are on my list!

Have a crafty week and a very crafty colouring month! Thanks so much for reading :)

Edit: I noticed that this week's Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge is all about hearts, so I thought I'd link him up too :)

Craftroom Update - the big move + A viking invasion with Avery Elle

Well, here we are again! After my last post I found myself some extra energy and so after the kiddies were in bed, I went a bit crazy in the spare room and started taking things off shelves in order to move some very heavy furniture to finish my set up. I forgot how heavy the sofa bed was and I got my husband to help in the end, as last time I moved it I pulled several muscles in my back and it was decidedly painful for quite a while.

So, now the big bookcase with a lot of storage boxes of various shapes and sizes is next to the desk. I've been reorganising what's on it, putting things on my Trofast unit and also into my little Moppe cabinets. I'm still working a lot of it out, but I like where the furniture is now and will continue to reorganise and get storage I'm happy with. There is certainly a lot more room now in here, and all my craft stuff is in one coherent space. Oh and you can see I removed all the lovely cards I got last year (they are safe!!!!) and left space for hopefully more. As you can tell, I'm doing OK so far and it's only January :)

Thank you for all your lovely comments on my craft room. I am considering braving a video and doing a little tour at some point in the next couple of months. I hope you might join me. 

So, in terms of card making, I made a little purchase of some things that were on my wish list. I did it through Seven Hills Crafts. It's the new branding for Make The Day Special that I used to order from a lot. I love the new name - makes more sense to me - the website is so much better and the customer service is just as excellent. If you're in the UK and have never ordered from them before, I can highly recommend.

Anyway, one of my new purchases was this cute stamp from Avery Elle. I saw it on IG when it was released and it just called to me, so I decided to crack it out as soon as I could and get some colouring on. Let's just forget they pillaged much of the UK .... they did settle down in the end ;)

I stamped the Viking in Memento Tuxedo Black and then put three of the little hearts on a small acrylic block and stamped them around him. There is a small boo boo which if you're eagle eyed you will notice, but I couldn't be bothered stamping again!! 

I then coloured the Viking and some of the hearts in with Copics. I added some sparkle and shine with Wink of Stella and Glossy Accents to the coloured hearts. 

I then trimmed the panel and attached it to a blue card base.

[Supplies: Avery Elle Viking Stamp; Neenah Classic Crest Solar White 110lb card stock; Memento Tuxedo Black; Copic Markers; Wink of Stella; Glossy Accents; Blue card stock; Double Sided Tape]

I hope you like him as much as I do. I'm definitely going to colour him again!

If you love colouring as much as I do, you'll be excited to know that the 30 Day Colouring Challenge, hosted by the supremely talented and lovely Kathy Racoosin, is back. Set your calendars for 1st February and get colouring. 5 minutes every day is all that is needed! I'd love to see your creations and the best place to do that is via Instagram, so come on over :)

Thank you for your continued support, and for all your lovely comments. I hope you have a fabulous week!